Historic Milestone in Rocketry!

On January 17, Webb’s student-led Bluebird Rocketry team reached a landmark moment in high-school aerospace engineering, successfully completing the first static fire of its liquid rocket engine, Cardinal 1, at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry test site in the Mojave Desert. The engine performed beyond expectations, producing more than 750 pounds of thrust and exceeding the team’s design targets for chamber pressure. With these results, Cardinal is now believed to be the most powerful liquid rocket engine ever built and fired by a high school team in the United States, placing Webb students in truly rarefied air within the national rocketry community. Rooted in Southern California’s long tradition of aerospace leadership and entrepreneurial experimentation, the project reflects the region’s role as a global engine of innovation and a place where bold ideas are tested, refined, and brought to life.

 

Just as impressive as the raw power behind the test was the depth of the work that made it possible. The successful firing capped months of student-driven research, design, testing and documentation, with team members applying advanced concepts in physics, chemistry and engineering at a level typically seen in collegiate and professional programs. The strength of that technical work has earned the team an invitation to present at the Liquid Propulsion Symposium on January 31, 2026, where they will share their process and findings with industry professionals and university researchers. With the engine and all supporting systems in excellent condition following the test, Bluebird Rocketry is now preparing for the next phase of upgrades and higher-thrust firings, continuing a bold, student-led journey toward flight and, ultimately, space.