LSU Rocketry Launches Kaya 2 Rocket

Louisiana State Rocketry's newest rocket, built largely by LSU students, launched in Hearne, Texas on October 10.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Space

A slender white rocket stands on a metal launch rail in an open grassy field under clear daylight, with a faint exhaust plume at its base. — Louisiana State University students launched their competition-class rocket Kaya 2 on October 10 at a Texas launch site, with 80% to 90% of its components made on campus. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Louisiana State Rocketry launched its newest rocket, Kaya 2, on October 10 at the Tripoli Houston Rocket Club launch site in Hearne, Texas. The team says 80% to 90% of the rocket's components were made at LSU.

Why it matters

The launch shows a student team in Baton Rouge building a competition-class rocket largely from campus-made parts. The results give the team flight data to guide its next design.

The team built the rocket in roughly two-month work periods after starting in late May, with 80% to 90% of its components made at LSU. Kaya 2 is classified as a class two vehicle, but the extraction does not report its flight performance.

The players

Louisiana State Rocketry

A student rocketry organization at Louisiana State University that designs and launches competition rockets.

Tripoli Houston Rocket Club

A rocketry club whose launch site in Hearne, Texas hosted the Kaya 2 launch.

The details

Calvin Hatsuyuki, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, helped design Kaya 2. Michael Fraser, a sophomore electrical engineering student, made components that detect GPS data, velocity and altitude, while Brock Landers, a junior mechanical engineering student, handled machining. The air frame is a composite of fabric and epoxy, and the rocket uses solid propellant.

Late May: The team began work on its competition rocket.
October 10: Louisiana State Rocketry launched Kaya 2 in Hearne, Texas.

The Big Picture

Student-built rockets launched at Tripoli-affiliated sites follow a long tradition of amateur high-power rocketry in the United States. This launch shows university teams building competition vehicles with campus-made electronics and airframes.

Students in Baton Rouge can see rocketry as a hands-on engineering path, with GPS, altitude and velocity sensors built by undergraduates. The team's next test will show how campus-built electronics compare with commercial data.

The takeaway

Student teams can build flight-capable hardware from scratch, and comparing their sensor data against commercial flight records is a practical way to validate design choices.

What happens next

The team's next test will run its flight computer alongside commercial flight data to compare results, and further improvements will likely require building a new rocket.