Currently executing phase 4 of my master plan: Blitz!

My name is Tanaka Chonyera and I can do anything.

I created and run a free high-power rocket bootcamp for kids, and by day I manage a $150M+ construction project at Lilly. Working my way towards space. Space is the limit, and there's no limit in space.

I post about the bootcamp almost every day. Follow me on Instagram ↗

See my Rocket Bootcamp My Dreamernaut Mission 🚀 Join my Rocket Bootcamp
Dreamernaut · My Mission

Everyone, Everywhere

Dreamernaut is the ethos behind what I do. It is driven by the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue their dreams without unnecessary obstacles in their way. By lowering barriers of entry to economic activity (education, entrepreneurship, opportunity), I create environments where people from every background can thrive. From a rocketry club in Gaborone to launch rails in Marion County, the mission has never changed: use every available resource to pave the way for a flourishing future.

🚀

Socioeconomic Prosperity

Lowering barriers of entry so individuals from every socioeconomic background can participate fully in entrepreneurship, investing, and high-quality education and training.

🔥

Self-Agency

When people believe in their ability to reach their goals, they set ambitious targets, persevere through challenges, and unlock their full potential. Every rocket a student launches is proof of what they can do.

🌍

Quality of Life

Well-being goes beyond material wealth: physical health, mental and emotional wellness, social connection, and personal fulfillment, for individuals and whole communities.

♾️

P(10)

Set a target too ambitious for your current process to absorb. The reach forces a whole new framework, not just a faster version of the old one, and what it uncovers pays off at every level.

My Master Plan

Within the next decade, my rocket will reach orbit

My name is Tanaka Chonyera and I can do anything.

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T-minus to orbit · October 29, 2033 · 12:47 PM ET
Rocket Bootcamp

High-Power Rocket Bootcamp

I started the bootcamp in August 2025 in Marion County, Indiana. It is free for every student. Each student builds, paints, and launches their own high-power rocket under my supervision as a Tripoli Rocketry Association and National Association of Rocketry certified mentor. The rockets fly up to 5,000 feet. Along the way they learn aerodynamics, propulsion, recovery systems, and how FAA airspace coordination works. I am the Flyer of Record: I am responsible for every rocket being built correctly and flying safely.

336 built 1,000 LAUNCHPAD ROAD TO 1,000 336 / 1,000 664 to go about 34% of the way there 170+ launched so far
336
Rockets built
170+
Rockets launched
220+
Participants trained · 50+ adult volunteers
$155K
Funding raised
$0
Cost to families · $325 of value per student
5,000 ft
Maximum altitude
1,000
Rocket goal
9
Cohorts · 2,800+ student contact hours
Figures as of October 2026, from program attendance records and funding agreements.
Funding partners · MEPI · Cummins · Lilly · Purdue University
5 Indiana communities, 10+ partner institutions. Bootcamps in Indianapolis and Fishers, launch days in Muncie, and this fall Lebanon builds and a Sheridan Airport launch.
Program partners · Indiana State Museum · City of Fishers · Enlace Academy · Girl Scouts of Central Indiana · Indiana Rocketry · Rocketeers of Central Indiana · 23 US small businesses directly funded

🚀 Sign your student up Fund, host, or volunteer Check the record

Group photo of bootcamp students and volunteers with their rockets at the launch field
Launch day: students, families and volunteers with their rockets
Teaching the rocket build at the workshop
Walking the class through the build
Tanaka Chonyera preparing igniters at the field prep station
Prepping motors and recovery at the field station
Freshly painted student rockets drying
Build weekend, freshly painted airframes
Volunteers carrying finished rockets
Volunteers carrying finished rockets to the range
Recognition

Awards and press

🏛️

Letter of Recognition, Governor of Indiana (2026)

Signed by Governor Mike Braun on behalf of the State of Indiana and presented at the Sheridan Airport launch on September 25, 2026, thanking me for "supporting, educating, and inspiring the next generation of Hoosier STEM graduates."
🏅

NSBE 25 Under 25 Honoree (2026)

Selected through a competitive national process by the National Society of Black Engineers, honored at the 2026 NSBE Annual Convention.
🥇

DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, 1st in Africa (2018)

The first Botswana win in the essay category. The judging panel was chaired by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who called me "the next Nobel Prize winner."
🚀

#1 Flyer, LDRS 44 (2026)

34 flights, the most of any flyer at the largest high-power rocketry launch in the world, and more than double second place. I hold a Tripoli Level 2 certification, and NAR board members have vouched for the bootcamp.
WTHR, NBC Indianapolis
Feb 2026

"Indianapolis engineer launches free rocket boot camp for kids", a broadcast and online feature, later syndicated by iHeart's Morning Rush.
iHeartRadio · Morning Rush
Feb 2026

The WTHR feature was picked up and syndicated on iHeart's Morning Rush.
The Week Junior
Apr 2026

Profiled in the People section of the national weekly, alongside a 3-time Paralympic medalist.
Fox59 / CBS4 Indy Now
Jun 2026

Live segment with the City of Fishers, cross-aired on CBS4 Indianapolis.

Fox59 ↗YouTube ↗
Reddit: r/space, r/pics and more
2025-2026

Millions of views across major communities; nine posts over 100K views, three over 380K.
Botswana Guardian
2019-2020

Two national features, including "Botswana's Future Astronaut is Born."
Space in Africa · BTV · DStv
2019

"18-year-old Tanaka Chonyera wants to lead Zimbabwe to space", plus Botswana national TV and radio.
Timeline

2017 to now

2017-2018 · Botswana

Botswana

1st place in a multinational STEM rocket design competition in South Africa, then 1st in Africa at the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, the first Botswana win in the essay category. The prize was Paris, then French Guiana to watch an Ariane rocket lift off. I founded the first student-led rocketry program at Maru-a-Pula School, and the school gave it a $10,000 STEM facilities budget.

2020-2024 · Michigan

Michigan State

B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace Concentration), MSU Honors College, on a $140,000 Honors College Scholarship plus a Boeing Scholarship. I led the Solar Racing capstone aero-body team, fabricated diamond electrodes at Fraunhofer USA for Parkinson's research, and was Secretary and Communications Chair of NSBE-MSU.

2024-Present · Indianapolis

Eli Lilly

Project Manager on a $150M+ capital capacity expansion. I direct the design, construction and C&Q firms.

2025-Present · Marion County

Rocket Bootcamp

I founded the High-Power Rocket Bootcamp. 220+ participants trained, 336 rockets built, 170+ flown, about $155,000 in approved funding, nine cohorts, and a public goal of 1,000 rockets. At LDRS 44, the world's largest high-power rocketry launch, I flew 34 rockets, the most of any flyer.

Testimonials

Testimonials

Comments from the Reddit threads about the Rocket Bootcamp, which have reached millions of viewers. Parents, teachers and engineers.

I'm so glad you're doing this for the community in Indy. You're a legend, man!
u/Visible_Nail4859r/indianapolis
As the former president of my sixth-grade rocketry club, I can tell you without any hesitation or fear of contradiction that what you are doing matters. Thank you.
u/Negative_Gravitasr/space
Well done! Your impact to these kids lives is probably immeasurable.
u/treesplease9r/indianapolis
Read the full testimonials page →
Work

Work

Project Manager, Capital Projects

Eli Lilly and Company · Indianapolis
2024 - Present

I lead a $150M+ capital capacity expansion from design through construction, commissioning, and qualification. The project managers of the design, construction and C&Q firms report to me. At peak there are hundreds of construction workers on site, working to FDA-regulated quality milestones.

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Concentration

Michigan State University Honors College
2020 - 2024

Solar Racing capstone team lead (aero body design). Additive manufacturing intern at Fraunhofer USA, where I developed a new way to fabricate boron-doped diamond electrodes and contributed to a paper in Biosensors. Process engineering intern at First Solar. NSBE chapter secretary and communications chair.

Sign up

Sign up
(Indianapolis - Nationwide coming soon!)

Fill out the form below and it goes straight to me. Students, parents, and volunteers welcome.

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