Space Education Workshops

Southern Launch is passionate about inspiring the next generation to pursue STEM and get curious about the possibilities of the space industry.

Bottle Rocket Workshop

Combining real-world industry insight with interactive learning, our space education workshops bring STEM concepts to life. Connecting classrooms to the future of space.

Students explore why space is important to life on Earth, develop an understanding of how rockets work, and become familiar with the most common rocket types used today.

Learning is then reinforced through a structured, hands-on activity where students apply key concepts to design and build their own bottle rockets. This practical component supports problem-solving, critical thinking, and basic engineering skills using accessible materials.

The program finishes with a supervised launch session, where students test their designs and observe scientific principles in action. Bringing classroom learning to life in a meaningful and memorable way!

Workshop Details:

Length: 60 minutes.

Age group: All ages!

Site requirements:

  • TV screen with HDMI access (or similar) for the presentation

  • An open outdoor area for launch

  • Access to water for the water bottle rockets.

Number of students per session: Up to 50 students.

Cost: FREE!

Book your session today

For more information or to book your session, please contact us at:
0477 560 298
admin@southernlaunch.space

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Our standard 60-minute workshop is broken down into 20-minute block. Block 1 is our introductory presentation on the space industry. Block 2 is supervised rocket building. Block 3 is launch time!

    These timings may be adapted for younger students or larger groups.

  • We will tailor the session depending on the age group.

    For younger children we bring foam stomp rockets instead of the bottle rockets, and for older students we will introduce additional engineering challenges for their bottle rocket design.

  • 50 students is the max we recommend per session to ensure everyone gets a hands-on experience. However, we are more than happy to run multiple sessions in a day.

    Fewer students is no problem.

  • Bottle rocket output is determined by the number of students in the session. For a group of 50 we aim for 10 rockets to ensure every group has time for launch.

  • Launching a rocket is a team effort! We ask teachers/ guardians to help us arrange students into groups of 3-5 so the session can run efficiently while still ensuring every student gets involved.

  • Students are more than welcome to keep their rockets after the workshop.

    If this will cause fights among classmates, we are happy to remove launched rockets for recycling.

  • The bottle rocket program is run by our Community Engagement team. Where possible we like to bring along one of our real-life rocket engineers, but they can be quite busy people. All our staff have current working with children checks.

  • It is! We bring all the necessary equipment with us and pack it up when we leave.

    If you’d like to be more involved, students can be encouraged to collect and wash 1.25L and 2L drink bottles with their lids ahead of the session.

  • We leave this to the school’s discretion. Our team have no problem with additional parents/ guardians coming along to assist.

  • No! We have previously run workshops for youth groups and school holiday programs. You are more than welcome to contact us if you are unsure.

  • We typically run workshops on Monday - Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm, specific availability varies. Please contact us to enquire about dates.

  • We are unable to run the bottle rocket workshop from our premises. However, we have an annual work experience programs for students in year 10. Learn more here.