For most student rocketry teams, having astronaut Chris Hadfield count down to their launch would be memorable enough. For York University's Arbalest Rocketry team, it was the kickoff to a milestone achievement.
As Hadfield's voice echoed "three, two, one…" during Canada's largest student rocketry competition, the York-built "Red Robin" soared 20,000 feet into the air, leading to two second-place finishes and the team's strongest result to date.
Competing against more than 30 university teams from nine provinces, York's students delivered a strong performance at the annual Launch Canada Challenge. The week-long event, held Aug. 15 to 22, is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in engineering, manufacturing and testing, and brings together aspiring engineers, scientists and aerospace innovators from across the nation.
The Arbalest team landed a second-place finish in its launch competition category and second place in the science payload challenge, placing the University among the country's top-performing student rocketry teams.
“The team’s achievement is the result of increasing opportunities for hands-on STEM learning and student-led innovation at York, not to mention a successful multi-faculty collaboration,” says Robin Metcalfe, York’s associate dean, student affairs in the Faculty of Science. Metcalfe is the team’s administrative supervisor, alongside Professor Hugh Chesser from the Lassonde School of Engineering, who serves as the team’s academic advisor.
An Arbalest team member collecting the Red Robin rocket after its launch.
Team members do a final check on the rocket in preparation of the launch.
Red Robin is a 10-foot, solid-fuelled rocket designed by York students.
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For the students behind the project, it was the culmination of months of design, testing and preparation.
"Red Robin wasn’t just one project. It was multiple projects, tests and launches spread out over the course of a year, and we worked on it constantly,” says Ido Shakarghi, Arbalest team president, noting the 10-foot, solid-fuelled rocket reached a maximum speed of Mach 1.3.
The year-long effort involved first proving the concept for Red Robin would work during a smaller-scale launch, followed by a series of tests and flights that led to the project’s success.
The flight was especially meaningful for members of Arbalest, with Red Robin reaching a record altitude for York at the Launch Canada Challenge. Last year's Goose 4 launch reached roughly 13,000 feet.
Red Robin’s award-winning payload also included an experiment involving algae cells that move in response to light – similar to astrophage in the 2026 sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary – to learn more about how the cells' movement is influenced by the changing gravitational forces experienced during launch.
“It’s one thing to design and build something ambitious, but it’s another thing entirely to see it succeed in the real world,” says Shakarghi.
The competition, which received $1.2 million in federal funding, drew aerospace industry representatives and government leaders from across Canada to observe and engage in presentations, technical demonstrations and launches throughout the week.
York's turn to liftoff also drew special attention because of Hadfield's presence.
"For the past few years, Launch Canada organizers have tried unsuccessfully to arrange a visit by Colonel Hadfield," says Metcalfe, who also serves as a member of the Launch Canada outreach team. "Just by chance, he arrived on the same day as York's launch and delivered the countdown from the launch control tower. It was an exciting moment."
The project also highlights the growing opportunities available to York students interested in aerospace engineering, space technology and applied STEM learning, says Metcalfe.
"Through competitions such as Launch Canada, students gain experience solving real-world engineering challenges while working as part of multidisciplinary teams."
For the York students watching their rocket ascend after Hadfield's countdown, the moment was more than a successful launch. It was national recognition for months of work and a chance to showcase York talent at one of Canada's largest student aerospace competitions.
“This current team has always had a lot of heart. They are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed,” says Shakarghi. “None of us will forget the countless nights spent in the garage working like our lives depended on it, or the ridiculous drives and last-minute problems we had to solve just to keep moving forward.
“Second place was an incredible moment for us, but we’re not done. We proved that we belong here, and now we’re coming for that grand prize trophy.”
The team continues to work on new developments, including an innovative roll-control system on a series of rockets named Blue Jay, while setting their sights on York's first liquid-fuelled rocket, the Moose, with their first static firing test early this fall.