Over two semesters, an all-Indigenous team of students including both undergraduates and grad students came together to design, build, test, document, present, and launch a roughly 8-foot rocket made from scratch entirely at MIT. The 2023 challenge in particular required the team to develop carbon fiber and fiberglass composite layup techniques in order to create an airframe that was as light as possible while maintaining structural integrity.

“I didn’t really think I’d be joining a rocket team, and then I’d heard there was an all-Indigenous build team starting. I thought, yeah, this could be a good way to connect to the community here,” says Peyton Meader, a Passamaquoddy Tribe member who joined the team as a first-year and serves as the safety/avionics lead.

The team chose the name Doya (ᏙᏯ), meaning “beaver” in the Cherokee language; the name was suggested by team member Hailey Polson, who is a Cherokee citizen. At the First Nations Launch contest last spring, MIT Doya successfully blasted their rocket to a height of 1,290 meters, ultimately receiving the second-place grand prize award. The team was also named rookie team of the year.