High-Power Rocket Bootcamp

Contact

To fund a cohort, email me at [email protected] with “Funding” in the subject line. To host a build day, use “Hosting” in the subject line. Volunteers sign up with the form at tanakachonyera.com/support.

The latest version of this support kit is at tanakachonyera.com/support-kit.

At a Glance

Figures as of November 1, 2026. Sources: tanakachonyera.com/recognition.

About the Bootcamp

I started the High-Power Rocket Bootcamp in August 2025 and I run it. Students build and paint their own high-power rocket with trained volunteers at the tables. Most cohorts have one to three build days and then a launch day at an approved launch site, where the rockets fly as high as 5,000 feet. Some partner events are a single build day. Every student takes their rocket home.

My partner on the bootcamp is MEPI, the Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis. The bootcamp is separate from my job at Eli Lilly.

The bootcamp is free for every student because the organizations below cover the cost.

Fund a Cohort

Funding a cohort costs $325 or more per student. The money buys the rocket kits, motors, paint and tools, and it covers the venue, food and transport to the launch field. It depends on the cohort, and on average it has been closer to $400 per student.

So far the bootcamp has raised $155K+, and all of it has gone into the program. The kits, motors, paint and hardware come from 23 U.S. small businesses.

Who has funded it

To fund a cohort, email me at [email protected] with “Funding” in the subject line. Tell me whether you have a community, a school or a number of students in mind, and I will come back to you with what that cohort takes.

Host a Build Day

Build days happen wherever a partner gives me a room. So far builds have been in Indianapolis, Fishers and Lebanon, with launch days in Muncie and at Sheridan Airport.

• What you provide: a room with tables for one cohort, for about five hours on each build day.
• What I bring: the kits, paint, tools, trained volunteers, and the waivers and paperwork. I am there for the whole build day as the Flyer of Record, and I supervise the build so that every rocket is flight-worthy.
• Launch day: rockets fly on a separate day at an approved launch site under FAA airspace coordination.
• Who hosts: schools, museums, parks departments, youth organizations, libraries and company sites.
• Past hosts and program partners: the Indiana State Museum, the City of Fishers Maker Playground, Enlace Academy, Hattie B. Stokes Elementary, Indiana Black Expo, and Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.

To host, email me at [email protected] with “Hosting” in the subject line, and include the venue, the number of students you have in mind, and the months that work for you.

Volunteer

You do not need any rocketry experience to volunteer, because I will teach you everything you need to know. I make a deliberate effort to recruit people who have never done this before.

• What you do: you sit at a table with the students and help them through the build, and you help run launch day.
• Training: I train every volunteer myself before they work a build day.
• Background check: every volunteer has to pass a background check.
• How to sign up: fill out the volunteer form at tanakachonyera.com/support and I will call you.

Safety

• Students build the airframes. The motors are commercially manufactured and certified.
• Kids never touch a motor or an igniter. I buy, store, load and arm every one.
• I am the Flyer of Record for every student rocket, on build day and on launch day, and I inspect every rocket before it flies.
• Launches follow the NAR or Tripoli safety code of the host club, with FAA airspace coordination, at club launch fields and at Sheridan Airport.
• The program runs under OSHA’s hierarchy of controls.

More detail: tanakachonyera.com/join.

Cohorts

Recognition and Coverage

• Letter of Recognition from Indiana Governor Mike Braun, presented September 25, 2026, at the Sheridan Airport launch.
• Lilly’s 2026 Global Day of Service: 124 volunteers helped students at Hattie B. Stokes Elementary in Lebanon build 145 rockets for a launch at Sheridan Airport the next day.
• Indianapolis Star, October 29, 2026: “Meet Tanaka Chonyera, the man aiming to inspire next generation of rocket scientists.”
• WTHR (NBC Indianapolis), February 26, 2026: “Indianapolis engineer launches free rocket boot camp for kids.”
• Fox59 Indy Now, June 15, 2026: segment with the City of Fishers, also aired on CBS4.
• The Week Junior, April 3, 2026: profile in the People section.

All coverage: tanakachonyera.com/press. Press kit: tanakachonyera.com/press-kit.