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 ↗

🚀 Join my Rocket Bootcamp See my Rocket Bootcamp My Dreamernaut Mission
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, and what it uncovers pays off at every level.

My Master Plan

Within the next decade, my rocket will reach orbit

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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
390+
Participants trained · 174+ adult volunteers
$155K+
Funding raised
$0
Cost to families · $325+ of value per student
5,000 ft
Maximum altitude
1,000
Rocket goal
10
Cohorts · 2,800+ student contact hours
Figures as of October 2026, from program attendance records and funding agreements.
Funding partners
MEPI, Minority Engineering Program of IndianapolisCumminsLillyPurdue University
5 Indiana communities, 10+ partner institutions. Bootcamps in Indianapolis and Fishers, launch days in Muncie, and this fall a build at Hattie B. Stokes Elementary in Lebanon and a Sheridan Airport launch.
Program partners · Indiana State Museum · City of Fishers · Enlace Academy · Hattie B. Stokes Elementary · Girl Scouts of Central Indiana · Indiana Rocketry · Rocketeers of Central Indiana · In-kind supporter: System Three Resins · 23 US small businesses directly funded

🚀 Sign your student up Fund, host, or volunteer Documentation

Watching a launch at Sheridan Airport, September 2026
Watching a launch at Sheridan Airport, September 2026
One of 145 student rockets, boxed and ready on the runway
One of 145 student rockets, boxed and ready on the runway
Reacting to a launch
Reacting to a launch
Two student rockets, back from the field
Two student rockets, back from the field
Student rockets waiting in their boxes
Student rockets waiting in their boxes
Rocket Bootcamp

Cohorts

The bootcamp ran ten cohorts between August 2025 and September 2026.

#CohortBuildLaunch
1Summer 2025Camp Dellwood, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana · IndianapolisAug 2, 9 and 16, 2025Aug 24, 2025ROCI field, Muncie
2Fall 2025Park · IndianapolisNov 1 and 8, 2025Feb 8, 2026Indiana Rocketry field, Pence (November launches scrubbed for wind)
3Winter 2026, first groupCamp Dellwood · IndianapolisJan 25, 2026Feb 8, 2026Indiana Rocketry field, Pence
4Winter 2026, second groupCamp Dellwood · IndianapolisFeb 1, 2026Feb 8, 2026Indiana Rocketry field, Pence
5Spring 2026Camp Dellwood · IndianapolisApr 4 and 18, 2026Apr 19, 2026Indiana Rocketry field, Pence, during LDRS 44
6Enlace AcademyIndianapolis · 75 studentsMay 7, 2026One-day build
7Indiana Black Expo Youth Leadership SummitWith Purdue University · IndianapolisJul 17, 2026One-day build
8Indiana State Museum, Space DayIndianapolisJul 18, 2026One-day build
9City of FishersFishers Maker Playground · FishersAug 2, 2026Aug 9, 2026ROCI field, Muncie
10Lilly Global Day of ServiceHattie B. Stokes Elementary · LebanonSep 24, 2026Sep 25, 2026Sheridan Airport
Sign up

Sign up
(Indianapolis - Nationwide coming soon!)

Students and parents sign up here. Volunteers, use the volunteer form.

Open the sign-up form in a new tab ↗

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 said the jury was "not quite sure if he's crazy or the next Nobel Prize winner" and that they "put our money on the second one."
🚀

#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.
Indianapolis Star
Oct 2026

"Meet Tanaka Chonyera, the man aiming to inspire next generation of rocket scientists", a feature by Christine Tannous, with a 20-photo gallery and a video.

Article ↗Photos ↗Video ↗
Yahoo
Oct 2026

The Indianapolis Star feature, syndicated on Yahoo.
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
Mar 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
Feb 2020

"DStv Eutelsat Award's Botswana winner sets Africa's sights on space", a feature after the launch trip to French Guiana.
Botswana Guardian
Feb 2019

"Botswana's Future Astronaut is Born", a national feature on the DStv Eutelsat essay win.
Mmegi
Feb 2019

"Motswana Wins At DStv Eutelsat Star Awards", by Mompati Tlhankane in the national daily.
Space in Africa · BTV · DStv
2019

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

Zimbabwe to now

See the full timeline → Bootcamp cohorts

Until 2005 · Zimbabwe

Whitestone School

I briefly went to Whitestone School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

2005-2013 · Botswana

School in Botswana

In Botswana I went to Busy Bees, then Broadhurst Primary School, where I graduated in 2012. I spent 2013 at Legae Academy and went to Maru-a-Pula from 2014 to 2020.

2014-2020 · Botswana

Maru-a-Pula

In February 2018 I started Maru-a-Pula's first student rocketry program and built solid-propellant rockets from scratch. At the 2018 Lebone STEM Derby in South Africa, our school placed first overall, and I received the gold medal for my rocket. On February 13, 2019, I was announced as the 1st place essay winner in Africa at the 2018 DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, Botswana's first win in that category. In March 2019 I entered the African Leadership Academy STEM Derby with a parabolic solar concentrator, and our school was runner-up. In January 2020 the Star Awards prize took me to Paris and then to Kourou, French Guiana, to watch an Ariane 5 launch.

2020-2024 · Michigan State

Michigan State

B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace Concentration), MSU Honors College, on $140,000 in merit-based scholarships plus a Boeing Scholarship. I built a high voltage divider for laser spectroscopy at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (2021 to 2022), developed a faster diamond electrode fabrication method at Fraunhofer USA (2022 to 2023), interned at First Solar (summer 2023), and led the Solar Racing capstone aero-body team (spring 2024). I was also Secretary and Communications Chair of NSBE-MSU.

June 2024-Present · Indianapolis

Eli Lilly

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

August 2025-Present · Marion County

Rocket Bootcamp

I founded the High-Power Rocket Bootcamp. The first cohort launched on August 24, 2025, and the bootcamp has run ten cohorts through the September 2026 Global Day of Service. 390+ participants trained, 336 rockets built, 170+ flown, $155K+ raised, and a public goal of 1,000 rockets. At LDRS 44 in April 2026, the world's largest high-power rocketry launch, I made 34 flights, the most of any flyer.

Testimonials

Testimonials

Comments from parents, teachers and engineers on the Reddit threads about the bootcamp, which have reached millions of viewers.

Those kids hunting rockets in the corn is the best thing I have seen all week. 150 of them will be telling this story for years. Thank you for bringing this to Lebanon.
u/Glazed-Donuttr/Indiana
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
Love your updates, Rocket Man. You're doing very important work. Thank you for doing this.
u/obi1kennebler/Indiana
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.

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 was acknowledged in a Biosensors paper. Process engineering intern at First Solar. NSBE chapter secretary and communications chair.