Ignitors Rocketry - The History

Ignitors Rocketry was originally founded in October of 2024 by Victoria Catano on a vision of making rocketry more accessible. To accomplish this goal, Ignitors was founded as a project team underneath a different organization, The Society of Mechatronics Engineering Technology or SOMTECH. At its conception, the team took on the acronym IGNITORS, which stood for "The Interdisciplinary Group for Navigation, Innovation, and Thrust Optimization of Rockets at SOMTECH".

After the organization's first semester, it became clear that to accomplish the goals by which it was founded on, it would need to expand into its own entity. After IGNITORS' first appearance at IREC the move was made, and the organization officially became Ignitors Rocketry. After the split, the Mentorship Program was founded, hosting its first class for the Fall of 2025.

Take a look below to see the current team and the teams of the past, as well as their accomplishments and major projects.

Ignitors II (2025-2026)

As the second iteration, Ignitors II was the first team to work as its own organization. Led by Jonathan Combs, Ignitors II gained official recognition as an organization by Texas A&M University and founded the Mentorship Program led by Saylor Sherrodd. As far as projects, Ignitors II created the second launch vehicle, known as "Thunderbolt" and designed the organization's first liquid bipropellant engine "Liquid Courage".

Ignitors I (2024-2025)

Ignitors I was the group that started it all! Led by Victoria Catano, Ignitors I designed and created the team's first launch vehicle "Fire In The Hole" in just 5 months, appearing in IREC for the first time.