Full-Scale Launch, 2026
Feb 7 · Bragg Farms
The Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Laboratory builds reusable high-power launch vehicles and the novel payloads they carry. Nineteen seasons in NASA's national competition — seven championships and eight payload awards, every part student-designed.
Feb 7 · Bragg Farms
AIAA · most of any program era
Most decorated in the program's era
The Mission · 2007—Present
You challenge these students and they will come and build. That is the VADL motto.Prof. A.V. Anilkumar · Director, VADL
Every figure here is a result NASA announced or a milestone the lab reached — measured, not estimated.
For the hardest payload NASA has yet set the field, VADL is developing a tethered lander that will excavate lunar-analog soil mid-mission, mix it with onboard deionized water, and return conductivity data in the range expected for fertilized soil.
Full-scale launch flew February 7, 2026, following a completed Critical Design Review and a successful Vehicle Demonstration Flight — two reusable flights with every subsystem performing nominally.
Browse every mission →Launch footage from Bragg Farms and the teams behind it. Add a highlight reel and it plays right here, full-width.
Toney, Alabama · NASA University Student Launch
A non-exhaustive look at where VADL engineers go to work, intern, and pursue graduate research.
We recruit across every engineering discipline at Vanderbilt — and curiosity counts more than prior rocketry experience. Build hardware that flies in your first year.
How to join →VADL is sustained by the Dalton Aerospace Design Laboratory Fund and partners who believe in hands-on aerospace education. Your gift buys motors, materials, and travel to Huntsville.
Donate to VADL →