Two cadet teams from the Colorado and Oregon wings are representing Civil Air Patrol in the national finals of the StellarXplorers National Space Design Competition, the Air & Space Forces Association’s national STEM high school program, set for April 23-25 in Denver.
The Oregon Wing’s Aurora Composite Squadron has reached the finals five times in the competition’s 11 years, including four times from 2017-2021. That record includes achieving the 2021 overall title and placing second in 2020.
The Colorado Wing’s Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron is making its first appearance on the StellarXplorers national stage, though cadets from the squadron participated in the All Service Division overall finals of the Air & Space Forces Association’s national cyber competition, CyberPatriot, every year from 2011-2018. Cadets from the squadron finished first overall in CyberPatriot’s All Service Division in 2012 and 2017 and third in 2016 and 2018.
The cadet teams will compete with teams from seven high schools — including one each representing Air Force Junior ROTC and Navy Junior ROTC programs — and one middle school. All emerged from three rounds of online qualification competition, followed by the national semifinals, also conducted online.
The first round, held Oct. 31–Nov. 3, required teams to find the optimal orbit for a New Year’s “fireworks” display over several cities. For Round 2, Dec. 5-8, teams had choose satellite components to make the fireworks display a reality while staying within time, weight, and budget limits). Round 3, Jan. 23-26, focused on launch operations.
In all, 375 teams participated this year, representing 34 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Department of Defense schools in Germany and Spain, and Canada.
The Aurora Composite team members are:
Cadet 2nd Lt. Elisabeth Piazza
Cadet Staff Sgt. Derica Theobald
Cadet Senior Airman Jenell Theobald
Cadet Airman Isaac Lu
Cadet Airman Basic Ethan Zhang.
Maj. Carl Knox, the Aurora squadron’s leadership officer as well as the Oregon Wing’s testing officer, is the team’s adult director.
The Colorado Springs team consists of:
Cadet 1st Lt. Hally Hallare
Cadet Airman Ian Riach.
Coaching the team is Maj. Bill Blatchley, CAP national cyber mission team deputy for education and awareness and Colorado Wing director of aerospace education.
StellarXplorers is aimed at inspiring students to pursue education and careers in STEM fields using space system engineering.
The program provides specific training in the use of system simulation software, Systems Tool Kit (STK), as well as an online textbook as a curriculum supplement and study resource for online team quizzes during the competition.
StellarXplorers is supported by the Department of the Air Force’s Air & Space STEM Outreach, L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, the Bahethi Family Foundation and SSAI, BlueHalo, BAE Systems, and General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation. Educational support is provided by Ansys and Nova Space Inc.
