The University of Sydney (USYD) Rocketry Team has soared to victory, winning two major categories in the 2026 International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) with its latest rocket Galah.

The team won first place in the 10,000-foot Student Research and Developed Hybrid/Liquid Category, where rockets are required to reach the 10,000 feet (three kilometres) target altitude.

The USYD Rocketry Team was also named the SDL Payload Challenge winners (where the rockets carried 2.5 kilograms), making history as the first team to have won this category twice. 

The rocket’s namesake follows a long tradition of the team naming its rockets after native birds.

The IREC is the largest student rocketry event in the world.  Thousands of engineering students from 150 teams and over 20 countries gathered at Spaceport Midland in Texas for this year’s competition. Over six days ending in gale force winds and rain, the teams launched rockets designed, built and tested over the past year.

Australian universities overall performed very strongly in the competition.

The achievement adds to the USYD rocketry team’s history as a leader in student rocketry.

The USYD rocketry team is also two-time world champion, winning the top prize, in 2025 with its Pardalote rocket and in 2022 with Bluewren.

USYD Rocketry Team is Australia’s first tertiary student rocketry team – a dynamic group of student engineers who design and manufacture high-power rockets and space technologies based in the Faculty of Engineering. In 2019, the team was the first Australian team to attend, compete in and win its category at Spaceport America Cup (now known as the IREC).

USYD Rocketry Team Technical Director Charlie Balderstone, who is currently a third-year studying a Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering within the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.

“Galah’s success is the culmination of hours of work from over 50 student engineers. It has been another opportunity to prove that as a team we can rapidly develop and deploy systems that are state of the art not only in student rocketry, but in the broader aerospace industry, and we are incredibly proud of this year's outcome.”

Academic supervisor from the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Professor Matthew Cleary said this year Australian universities overall performed very strongly in the competition. Melbourne’s RMIT came second in the 10,000 foot Student Research and Developed Hybrid/Liquid  category and second in the SDL Payload Challenge.

“Galah’s flight is the result of countless hours of work across the team, from design and manufacturing to testing, operations and final preparations on the range in Midland,” he said.

“We’re incredibly proud of the commitment, problem-solving and expertise every member put into making this launch possible.

“This year’s competition also shows Australia is punching above its weight on the rocketry world stage, a result of the high standard of technical and leadership training engineering students receives in the country. 

“The University of Sydney leads the Australian Rocket Systems Training Network (ARSTN), which works to ensure the next generation of skilled engineers. Its students learn to work as a team, solving real world problems under the same pressures of cost, schedule, and technical risk they'll experience in future careers such as in aerospace engineering.”

Professor Liyong Tong, Head of the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechantronic Engineering said: 

"The School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering is immensely proud of the outstanding achievements of the University of Sydney Rocketry Team and its academic supervisor, Professor Matthew Cleary. Their success is a remarkable reflection of the talent, dedication, and innovation of our students, and a powerful demonstration of the excellence that characterizes our teaching and research environment. This achievement has been made possible through the unwavering support of Professor Hesham El Gamal, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, together with the University of Sydney, whose commitment to excellence and excellent student experience empowers our students to pursue ambitious goals and achieve world-class outcomes."

Since 2006, Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) has operated the competition, achieving international status in 2011. Based in the United States, ESRA is a non-profit organisation founded in 2003 to foster and promote engineering knowledge and experience in rocketry.

Declaration: Project Galah was supported by the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME) and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the Faculty of Engineering. 

The University of Sydney, as well as industry partners and over a dozen sponsors including Pirtek, Coregas, Investment NSW, Sydney Composites, The Chancellors Committee, Tolarno Station, Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer, SCF Containers, NSW Space Research Network, Sydney Manufacturing Hub, Air’n’Paint, Calm Aluminium, Gurit, Onshape, Leap Australia, Ansys, Royal Aeronautical Society, Sourceman International, and Terracotta Roasters who provided financial and in-kind support to the team.