ITU Lagari Thrust Rocket Team Makes History with Its Success in the U.S.

The ITU Lagari Thrust Rocket Team made history twice at IREC 2025—one of the world's most prestigious rocket competitions—by executing a single launch with 0% error. The team earned second place worldwide and received two awards at the competition.

Project teams from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) continue to make the ITU community and our country proud with their national and international achievements. The ITU Lagari Thrust Rocket Team achieved outstanding success at IREC 2025, held in Texas from June 9–14, 2025. IREC is recognized as the most comprehensive international competition in the field of rocket engineering.

Our students made competition history with a flawless launch that had a 0% error margin. By hitting the 10,000-feet altitude target with 100% precision, the team broke a second record. With this achievement, the Lagari Thrust Team was awarded the James Barrowman Award for Flight Dynamics. Additionally, the team won Second Place in the 10K Commercial Off The Shelf category, ranking second in the world in its division.

ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal emphasized that he had personally witnessed the team's dedicated efforts on multiple occasions throughout the process. He noted that their unwavering perseverance under highly challenging conditions was the driving force behind their success. Prof. Dr. Mandal highlighted the Lagari Thrust Team as a strong example of project-based learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and impact-oriented approaches.

He further stated that, as a research university grounded in responsibility and impact, ITU views this achievement not only as a demonstration of technical excellence but also as a concrete symbol of the team’s commitment to Türkiye’s future and a contribution to the vision of a Fully Independent Türkiye under the National Technology Initiative.