What is Go For Launch!?
Go For Launch! is an exciting, multiday program that ignites students’ passion for space and STEM through hands-on teamwork, discussions led by experts, and solving real world challenges. This program is to build leadership, collaboration, and communication skills. Students are paired with astronauts and STEM professionals as they work in teams to design space experiments and they’re all competing to have their projects launched to space! Team Chapparal Champions won at the Go For Launch! Midland event in 2023 and are having their project flown to space!
How did they come up with their project?
Team Chaparral Champions ultimately chose to study silkworms in space after several rounds of trial and error with their project idea. Initially, they were excited about researching spiders in microgravity to observe how their silk behaves in a zero-gravity environment. However, after in-depth discussions and evaluations, they realized that spiders posed too many logistical challenges. “In zero gravity, it would have been harder for them, especially when it comes to spinning their webs,” Chantal explained. “With silkworms, you can just put a bunch of pillars everywhere and they should be fine for the most part.”
Beyond the practical setup, the team also discovered that silkworms had been studied in space before, which gave them valuable reference points. The existence of prior research helped solidify their decision, as it provided a foundation they could build on and compare their own results to. “Our goal was to study how space affects the production of silk [from the silkworms] and how that changes over time in microgravity,” Azaan added. “It was kind of a broad idea, but we wanted to explore it.
Another notable aspect of Team Chaparral Champions is their strong connection as a group. All of the team members went to the same high school and were friends before joining Higher Orbits and participating in the Go For Launch! event. Now, all but Olatokunbo are college sophomores, they took part in the event as high school seniors, just before aging out of eligibility. Despite it being their first Go For Launch! event, they made a lasting impression, turning their shared curiosity into a compelling space research project.
Team’s Biggest Challenge
During the Go For Launch! events, teams are pushed in a variety of ways and united by a shared goal: to design a project worthy of flying to space. To achieve that, the students must develop a well-articulated and technically sound concept, and be able to present it in a compelling manner. For Team Chaparral Champions, one of the most difficult aspects wasn’t necessarily the technical execution, it was agreeing on which idea to pursue in the first place.
“One of the biggest challenges was definitely just agreeing if it was a good idea to pursue one idea further,” Chantal explained. “We had a bunch of ideas on the table, mostly focused on insects and natural processes. It was kind of hard deciding which one we wanted to put our most effort into and then having to think through all the logistics.” Oluwatobi echoed this, adding, “We wanted to come up with something that would actually be useful to study in space. Silk can be used to make pillowcases and other things, and everyone wants that, but yeah, that was probably the hardest part: coming up with something truly unique.”
The team embraced a "less is more" mindset, aiming to keep their experiment focused and manageable while making sure their core concept was solid and well thought-out. They didn’t want to overcomplicate the design, but they were committed to fully developing and refining the idea they chose.
Biak, who took on the role of the group’s lead researcher, reflected on the challenges of getting the project off the ground from a research perspective. “I think the hardest part was definitely starting,” he shared. “But once we had the idea, we all came together as a team and pretty much worked through it together, and it just flowed down from there. It was like a snowball effect.” His efforts helped the team dive into existing space research and apply that knowledge toward their future space-bound project.
Azaan offered a slightly different take on the team’s biggest challenge. For him, he described the hardest part as after their initial win. “I think the biggest challenge was doing a more detailed version of our experiment idea, the synopsis, the full design of the cage, everything we wanted,” he said. “That was kind of challenging because we had to make it really realistic, and everything was up to us. We had no outside help.” For Azaan, winning was just the beginning. It marked the start of a much deeper process of refining their concept into something viable for spaceflight, something that required focus, collaboration, and real-world thinking.
What kind of impact did Higher Orbits have on them?
Team Chaparral Champions had a lot to say about the lasting impact their Higher Orbits experience had on them. Though, all but Olatokunbo, only had the opportunity to participate in their final year of eligibility, they embraced the moment and absorbed as much knowledge and experience as possible. From learning new soft skills to navigating teamwork, sharing ideas, and overcoming real-time challenges, each team member walked away with something meaningful, and they all agreed the experience left a lasting impression.
Biak emphasized the development of what he called “soft skills,” especially the ability to collaborate under pressure. “I think working as a team was definitely a big thing on a time crunch,” he said. “Because in the academic environment, you usually get, I would say, a long period of time to prepare, get ready. Go For Launch!, it’s a working day and then like a day presenting, if I remember correctly. And so, it's stuff like that, where it was spontaneous, bouncing off of each other, that I really learned from.”
Chantal reflected on how the experience helped her recognize and strengthen her interpersonal instincts. “I was very good at just initiating the conversation and getting the conversation flowing a little bit more,” she shared. “And I felt like I picked up on that really quickly in our group. I’m able to pick up on that in different scenarios to this day.”
Azaan’s takeaway centered on collaborative learning and building something from the ground up. “I would say working with a team,” he said. “We were starting from scratch, we didn’t have a foundation.”
Olatokunbo, like Biak, focused on soft skills but specifically highlighted leadership and communication. “Communication and leadership, because most times in my group I am the oldest,” he explained. “So, I have to command my group on what we should do.”
Oluwatobi shared a similar focus on teamwork but highlighted the importance of understanding individual strengths. “I think teamwork was probably the one I learned from the most,” he said. “I learned that everyone has their own skills, so like, how to make that work with each other, I learned that very well.”
Impact on STEM journey
It’s always meaningful to reflect on how experiences like Go For Launch! shape students' long-term paths, especially in STEM. For Team Chaparral Champions, the event marked a turning point in their academic journeys. With all but one team member now in higher education, the impact of this experience extended well beyond the competition. Here’s what they had to say about how it influenced their goals and growth.
For Chantal, the event was the beginning of something bigger. “Go For Launch! kind of kickstarted my journey into doing more outside of school,” she said. “It was one of the first extracurricular activities I did. I know I kind of started late, but it was one of the first that actually made me want to pursue more, especially in STEM. I was introduced to Go For Launch! by my physics teacher, and she encouraged all of us to go. I actually had a really good time, and it made me want to keep exploring STEM on my own time.”
Biak shared that the experience opened up new doors for him and gave him a boost in confidence. “I think it certainly opened up opportunities for me,” he said. “Not only did I gain confidence from the Go For Launch! event, but I used that experience as leverage and as a segue into different opportunities, like the one that I’m in now, and also others I’ve had in the past.”
For Azaan, the program pushed him to take his interest in STEM outside the classroom. “I think I’ve always been interested in STEM,” he said. “So it just kind of helped me do more of it outside of school. I did STEM a lot before, but it was mostly focused in the classroom. Go For Launch! pushed me to keep going in my free time, too.”
Olatokunbo had a slightly different perspective. He attended three Go For Launch! events over the course of high school, and while his career goal remained unchanged, the experience broadened his outlook. “My future is that I want to be an eye doctor—that’s always been in my mind since the beginning,” he explained. “So it’s not really made that much of a difference in my goal, but it has opened my mind to all the people that were there. You know, I saw bright young kids that are incredibly smart, and it just amazed me all these kids.”
Oluwatobi reflected on how the event helped him translate classroom knowledge into real-world motivation. “It helped me understand how I can use my knowledge in the real world,” he said. “I got a book from the event, and it shared how an astronaut went from where he was to then becoming an astronaut. And it’s not easy to be an astronaut, you have to be really good at everything. So I’ve put that in my mindset and made it how I always want to work—whether at school, in sports, or anything like that.”
Meet the team
Chantal Estrada
Chantal is going into her second year at The University of Texas – San Antonio and she is studying Microbiology. She is currently gaining hands-on clinical experience at a dermatology clinic, where she assists with minor surgical procedures for patients with skin cancer. Her interest in healthcare began while pursuing a medical assistant certification, which led her to apply for a position at the clinic, an opportunity she quickly embraced. Now working alongside dermatologists and observing procedures up close, Chantal is deepening her knowledge of the medical field and building skills that will support her long-term goals. This was her first and only Go For Launch! event. Her favorite memory is, “Whenever they posted on their Instagram that we were the finalists or like, we had won, the competition and I was able to share that with everybody in my family and they were reposting that post and I was getting so many congratulation texts and calls,” she shared, “my mom, she works at a restaurant and one of her like, loyal customers bought me a big Lego set of a spaceship. And I was like, oh, this is so cool!”. Chantal keeps up with space news due to the change in her social media algorithm after attending the event. She has been involved in volunteering for STEM outreach by visiting middle schools and talking about microbes, viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc. She may be pursuing her master’s in microbiology but we shall see, the world and beyond is her oyster!
Azaan Waseem
Azaan is going into his second year at University of Texas – Austin and he is studying Computer Science with a minor in Statistics and Data Science. Azaan has spent the summer working a research project with a professor at the University of Texas – Austin, developing an AI-powered alternative to Grade Scope, which is a commonly used academic grading and plagiarism detection tool. The goal of this project is to create a free, accessible version that smaller colleges can use without the high licensing costs. Azaan and his team plan to pilot the tool in an actual classroom setting this fall. His work blends software development and AI with a focus on practical impact in education technology. This was Azaan’s first and only Go For Launch! event. His favorite memory is, “I think it would be the event, like at the end of the event after we presented and everything. Like, even though, like, we only got in the finals, it wasn't like us winning—winning It still felt surreal, because, like, we were in person together”. Azaan mentioned that he has been participating in a club called TPEO which is an engineering STEM club that hosts mini courses on a variety of topics. He said, “It's like, it's kind of like a mini class that you can like once a week and like learn something like you learn a new programming language or something like that. About the internet, things like that”.
Biak Mang
Biak is going into his second year at University of Texas Austin and he is studying Mechanical Engineering. He is spending the summer in Seoul, South Korea, where he is conducting research and development in telecommunications and robotics. Currently finalizing a technical presentation for his company, Biak is applying his STEM knowledge in a global context while gaining hands-on experience in industry-level innovation. Originally born outside the U.S. and having also lived in Malaysia as a young child, this is his first time returning to Asia since moving to the U.S. at age four. Immersing himself in South Korea's distinct cultural environment has been both eye-opening and enriching. While the adjustment took some time, Biak embraced the challenge and now reflects on the experience as a valuable step in many aspects of his life. This was Biak’s first and only Go For Launch! event. Biak’s favorite memory is, “I remember gathering the team just after the presentation and gave them a motivational speech. We hadn’t done well in earlier events, so I hyped everyone up, shouting that it wasn’t over yet and it was time to show out. I ended with a loud, ‘ECHS on three—one, two, three, ECHS!”. Biak also plans to become a combat systems officer in the Air Force, post-graduation. Another interest fact, Biak participates in battle-bot competitions through the University of Texas –Austin! He mentioned, “Yes. The cool thing was they actually seeded each team based on like what like the, because we had to show them progress throughout for them to give us the budget for the robot. And so we got seated high, actually. And so that was also a cool thing.”
Oluwatobi Ajayi-George
Oluwatobi will be entering his sophomore year at Texas Tech University, where he is majoring in computer science. This summer, he has focused on earning certifications essential to his field and expanding his knowledge of programming languages, skills that are crucial for success in computer science. This was Oluwatobi’s first and only Go For Launch! event. Oluwatobi’s favorite memory is, “I mean I’m going to have to pick when it was us doing our speech because you know after the whole thing we only got to work through emails. But I felt like the speech was very good because you know we got to take our time. We worked together on what we wanted to say and presented what we were going to do.” Oluwatobi has joined two engineering clubs at Texas Tech University: NSBE and Colorstacks. He described NSBE as a resource to help engineers get internships, and then Colorstacks teaches different coding skills and languages for the engineers.
Olatokunbo Ajayi-George
Olatokunbo is entering his senior year at Early College High School (ECHS) in Midland, Texas. This summer, he has been preparing for a challenging academic year ahead by focusing on chemistry and biology. To get ready, he has been dedicating time to some online learning, building a strong foundation to succeed in his upcoming science courses. This was Olatokunbo’s first Go For Launch! event, and he went on to participate in two more, becoming a veteran of three events! Olatokunbo’s favorite memory is, “I would say since they were all going into their senior year I didn’t know as much as them. So, when I was watching you guys brainstorm and all these little knickknacks, I was just actually impressed. Especially with Biak. That boy Biak is smart! So, like the collaborative aspect of it was impressive because you got to see everybody’s traits and all that stuff it was very impressive”.
Written by Intergalactic Intern Shelby Morse
