Free High-Power Rocket Bootcamp · Indiana · Nationwide coming soon

You draw it. I engineer it. You launch it.

Dreamernaut is my free High-Power Rocket Bootcamp. A kid draws a rocket, I turn that drawing into a real fiberglass kit that flies straight, and they build it and launch it up to 5,000 feet. Free for every student, always.

🚀 Draw your rocket Sign up How it works For parents
Run by Tanaka Chonyera, aerospace engineer, Tripoli Level 2, Flyer of Record for every student rocket. As seen on WTHR, Fox59 and The Week Junior. Who's behind this ↓
Get involved

Sign up
(Indiana · Nationwide coming soon!)

Fill out the form below and it goes straight to me. Students, parents, and volunteers welcome. It is the same form as on tanakachonyera.com, so signing up in either place counts.

Trouble with the form? Open it in a new tab →

How it works

From a crayon drawing to 5,000 feet

Every bootcamp rocket used to come from the same box. Now the box comes from your drawing. Here is the whole trip.

1

Draw your rocket

Any shape. A cat with ears, a saucer, a rocket with arms, a plain pointy one. I only need a back end and room for the flame; I handle the physics. Draw it on paper and snap a photo, or draw it right on this site.

2

Pick your flame

White, blue, red, green, black smoke, or a shower of sparks. You pick the flame. I pick the motor behind it.

3

I engineer it

I make your design stable and flight-ready, as true to your drawing as I can. Within 2 days you hear back: flight-ready, or a small redraw.

4

Your kit gets made

Fiberglass fins cut to your drawing, airframe and nose cone matched to it, motor ordered to match your flame. You get a lead time and can check progress here anytime.

5

Build day, then launch day

You build your own custom kit at the bootcamp with trained volunteers at every table, then we go launch it. You keep the rocket.

🚀 Start drawing Already sent one? Check your rocket

Pick your flame

Seven flames. One is yours.

The color of a rocket flame comes from the chemistry inside the motor, the same way fireworks get their colors. You do not need to know any motor names. Just point at the one you want.

Sparky flames (Dark Matter, Metalstorm) only fly at fields that allow them. I will tell you if your launch site does.

The Bootcamp

High-Power Rocket Bootcamp

I founded the bootcamp in August 2025 in Marion County, Indiana, and it is free for every student. Each participant designs, builds, paints, and launches their own high-power rocket, reaching altitudes up to 5,000 feet, while learning aerodynamics, propulsion, recovery systems, and FAA airspace coordination. As Flyer of Record, I personally certify every student rocket before it flies.

220+
Participants Trained
50+
Adult Volunteers
165
Rockets Built
118
Rockets Launched
$155K
Funding Raised
$0
Cost to Families · $325 Value
5,000ft
Altitudes Up To
1,000
Rocket Goal
Funding partners · MEPI · Cummins · Lilly · Purdue University · Indiana State Museum
Program partners · City of Fishers · Enlace Academy · Girl Scouts of Central Indiana · Indiana Rocketry · Rocketeers of Central Indiana
Bootcamp students, families and volunteers with their rockets at the launch field
Launch day - students, families, and volunteers with their rockets
A student rocket leaving the pad
Liftoff
Teaching the rocket build at the workshop
Walking the class through the build
Students building rockets at the table
Build day at the tables
Finished student rockets lined up on a table
Finished airframes, ready for the range
Dreamernaut Labs

Every rocket is an experiment

Hundreds of kid-designed rockets a year, in shapes no wind tunnel has seen, flown in January and in July at fields nobody has launched from before. Put a flight recorder on every one and you get a dataset that does not exist anywhere. The kids who drew the rockets are contributors on the papers.

📊

An open flight dataset

Geometry, motor, weather and the onboard flight record, logged together for every flight, released with a DOI. Real drag numbers for cats, saucers and six-fin stubbies.

🎓

Kids on the paper

A named contributor with a defined role, the way journals list them. It has been done before: a class of 8 to 10 year olds published in a Royal Society journal in 2010.

🚀

Fly your experiment

Every platform has a payload bay. Schools, university teams, sensor makers and artists can fly a package on a kid's rocket, and the kid gets a copy of the data.

Go to Labs → Wear the rocket: the shop (coming soon) →

Cohorts

Where I'll be next

I announce a location, open a cohort, and the seats go fast. New locations are posted here first. Until sign-ups move to this site, the interest list lives at tanakachonyera.com/join.

For Parents

What you should know

🌟

Free, forever

Grants and sponsors, including Lilly, MEPI, Cummins, Purdue University, and the Indiana State Museum, cover everything. Families never pay for the program. A few host sites ask for a small refundable deposit that comes back at the last session; you hear about it before you sign up, never after.

🔥

Safety first, every time

Kids never touch a motor or an igniter. I buy, store, load and arm every one. Everyone watches from the spectator line at the NAR and Tripoli safety-code distance, and launches run with a club range safety officer under an FAA waiver. Sparky motors only fly where the field allows them.

🛡️

Every rocket certified

As Flyer of Record, I personally inspect and certify every student rocket before it flies. A custom design gets the same stability check in engineering software before I cut a single fin.

🛫

FAA-coordinated launches

Launches run with experienced high-power rocketry partners under FAA airspace coordination, on approved launch sites.

📞

I call every family

After you send a drawing or sign up, I personally call once to confirm your spot, answer your questions, and walk you through the one form (a liability waiver for the launch field). No texts, no marketing.

🔒

Your data stays with me

Your email and phone are used to confirm the spot and send the verdict, nothing else. The public tracking page shows only the rocket's name, your kid's first name and the status. Email me and it is deleted.

💰

$325 delivered per student

Kits, motors, tools, venues, food and transport: about $325 of value for every participant, and always $0 to your family.

🎨

Their drawing, their rocket

Your kid's drawing becomes the actual kit they build. Fins cut to their shape, paint in their colors, their name on the side. They keep it.

Who's behind this

Hi, I'm Tanaka

Tanaka Chonyera smiling outdoors

Aerospace engineer by training, project manager on a $150M+ capital project at Eli Lilly by day, and the founder and lead instructor of the Rocket Bootcamp the rest of the time. Born in Zimbabwe, raised in Botswana, building rockets with kids in Indiana. My name is Tanaka Chonyera and I can do anything.

  • Tripoli Level 2 certified. Flyer of Record for every student rocket.
  • #1 flyer by flight count at LDRS 44 (2026), the world's largest high-power rocketry launch: 34 flights.
  • NSBE 25 Under 25 honoree (2026).
  • 1st in Africa, DStv Eutelsat Star Awards (2018), judged by a panel chaired by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli.
  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Concentration, Michigan State University Honors College.

Everything else about me: tanakachonyera.com →

WTHR - NBC Indianapolis
Feb 2026

"Indianapolis engineer launches free rocket boot camp for kids"
iHeartRadio · Morning Rush
Mar 2026

"Rocket scientist launches rocket camp for kids"
The Week Junior
Apr 2026

"Launching dreams", People section of the national weekly.
Fox59 / CBS4 Indy Now
Jun 2026

Live segment with the City of Fishers, cross-aired on CBS4 Indianapolis.
Testimonials

What the internet says

Real comments from Reddit threads that reached millions of viewers: parents, teachers, and engineers reacting to the Rocket Bootcamp.

I'm so glad you're doing this for the community in Indy. You're a legend, man!
u/Visible_Nail4859r/indianapolis
As the former president of my sixth-grade rocketry club, I can tell you without any hesitation or fear of contradiction that what you are doing matters. Thank you.
u/Negative_Gravitasr/space
Well done! Your impact to these kids lives is probably immeasurable.
u/treesplease9r/indianapolis
Read the full testimonials page →
Details

Quick answers

Is it really free?

Yes. The program is free for every student and always will be. A few host sites ask for a small refundable deposit that is returned when your student completes their sessions; you hear about it before you sign up.

Who can draw a rocket?

Anyone. You do not have to be in a cohort yet: send the drawing and it puts you on the list for the next one with seats. A parent or guardian fills in the contact details and sends it. The drawing can be on paper (snap a photo) or made right here on the site.

Does it have to be rocket-shaped?

No. Cats, sharks, saucers, spools, rockets with arms or with fins near the nose: people fly all of those. I need a back end (something that says "this is the bottom") and room for the flame. If your shape needs a tweak, I make the smallest one I can, tell you first, and keep it looking like your drawing.

What if my drawing can't fly?

Almost every drawing can. When one needs a change it is usually a little more fin at the back or a small weight in the nose, and you cannot see either. If I really need you to redraw a part, I tell you exactly which part and the code stays the same.

Is it safe?

High-power rocketry runs under the NAR and Tripoli safety codes and FAA rules, and the bootcamp follows them to the letter. Kids build and paint; I load and arm every motor and nothing flies until it passes inspection. Families watch from the spectator line, well back from the pads, with a range safety officer running the show.

What's the time commitment?

A build session is a hands-on day of about 5 to 6 hours: design, build and paint with trained volunteers at every table. Launch day is a separate day at a club field (Muncie or Sheridan for the central Indiana cohorts). Parents drive and are welcome to stay for both. The exact dates come with your cohort.

What do Level 1 and Level 2 mean?

High-power motors are lettered, and each letter doubles the power. H and I motors need a Level 1 certification, J and up a Level 2. You cannot hold a card until you are 18 (NAR has a junior Level 1 at 14 to 17), so your rocket flies under my certification as Flyer of Record. You still build it, you still own it, and it is still your design.

How long until my kit is ready?

You get my answer within 2 days. After "flight-ready", fiberglass cutting and motor ordering take a few weeks (the fiberglass shop makes every kit to order). I post a date on your rocket's page so you can check back anytime.

Do I get to keep it?

Yes. You build it, you launch it, you take it home.

What is Launch OS?

My launch-site evaluation tool: click anywhere on a map and it checks the airspace, the FAA distance rules, live weather, and the nearest rocketry clubs. It is how I scout new locations so the bootcamp can go nationwide. Try it.