When is the symposium?

Saturday, January 30 & Sunday, January 31, 2027

Saturday: Programming begins at 8:30 AM. Please plan to arrive between 7:30 and 8:00 AM for parking, check-in, and badge pickup. The formal program concludes around 6:00 PM, followed by dinner and our after-party on the tarmac until approximately 9:00 PM.

Sunday: Industry Day begins at 8:30 AM and concludes at approximately 1:00 PM.

Where is the symposium?

At Flabob Airport in Riverside, California
4130 Mennes Ave, Riverside, CA 92509  

Activities take place across several buildings and outdoor areas throughout the airport campus.
Google Map link here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jZdqhu9RxFKmZS9Q9
Flabob Information: https://www.flabobairport.org

What is the purpose?

The Liquid Propulsion Symposium exists to inspire, educate, and connect the next generation of liquid rocketry innovators. Through live demonstrations, educational sessions, inspiring experiences, networking opportunities, and collaboration, the symposium brings together over 45 university teams, young engineers, academics, and industry professionals to learn, share, and advance the field of liquid propulsion. This results in faster innovation, improved safety, and growth of the liquid rocket community. It is 100% non-profit and volunteer-run, self and privately funded, and hosted by the Friends of Amateur Rocketry and Flabob Airport. The Symposium is an important part of a broader program of competitions, financial incentives, and education programs to promote more liquid rocketry in universities and the start-up community.

Who can attend?

The symposium is open to students, academics, engineers, and industry professionals working with liquid rockets. Overall capacity is capped at 450 participants, so university liquid rocket teams will be limited to a small number of slots during the first wave of early registration. Once general registration opens up, additional liquid team members, academics, and industry professionals can register until all the spots are confirmed. Please plan on registering early, to ensure your team can participate.

When do tickets go on sale?

University Team Pre-Registration: October 1–31, 2026
General Registration: Opens November 1, 2026
Ticket Transfers Allowed: Through January 15, 2027 at 11:59 PM
Refund Requests: Up to two days prior to the event

How do I pre-register as a school team?

Pre-registration will open October 1st, 2026, for university team captains. The preregistration period provides a small allocation of tickets to each school, so we have the most schools represented. General registration will open November 1st, 2026.
More details are found under the registration page.

When does general registration open up?

General registration ticket sales will start on November 1st, 2026 at 00:00 PST. Reminder: Last year general admission tickets sold out after only 16 hours, so buy them early.
More details are found under the registration page.

How much are tickets?

Tickets are $30/each. The ticket fee includes admission to both days of the Symposium, all presentations and demonstrations, the Project Expo, Industry Day, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the Saturday evening after-party.

The $30 registration fee is heavily subsidized by the event organizers and sponsors so that cost is not a barrier to student participation. The actual cost of hosting each attendee is substantially higher, but keeping the event accessible to university teams is a core part of the Symposium’s mission.

Academic Advisors to student teams are encouraged to attend and can register for free by sending an email (one per team), while tickets are still available.

All attendees MUST have an email confirmation. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Can I transfer my tickets?

For the 2027 Symposium, we are allowing transfer or reassignment of your Paid ticket to another person up until January 15th (11:59pm). To reassign your ticket log in to Eventbrite and choose Tickets -or- click on the “Go to my tickets” on your email confirmation, then “Edit” to change the name, email, etc.. Make sure you click the "Send confirmation email" box to transfer the ticket — otherwise it won’t transfer. After you confirm/save, an email confirmation will go to the new ticket owner.

To prevent ticket hoarding, multiple tickets cannot be purchased for the same name/email address. All tickets registered must be for unique names. Any duplicate tickets purchased using the same name or email will be refunded and returned. Please don’t abuse this process or we will have to discontinue transfers.

Can I get a refund if I am unable to attend?

Yes: Anyone can request a refund at any time up to 2 days before the event starts. We will refund the ticket price, less the non-refundable Eventbrite fees. To request a refund use the refund link on Eventbrite or send an email to LiquidPropulsionSymposium@gmail.com. A refunded ticket won’t automatically release more tickets, as we usually plan on a 5-10% no-show rate.

Can I buy tickets or extra tickets at the door?

No. There will not be tickets sold at the door on the day of the event. Everybody arriving must have an email confirmation ticket (with barcode) in their name and must be ready to show ID to collect their badge.

If anyone from a university team shows up without a ticket in their name the university will be ineligible for pre-registration the next year.

What topics will be presented?

The full 2027 program will be published in the December timeframe.

There will be a broad range of presentations, including ~25 sessions across four concurrent tracks all related to liquid rockets or liquid propulsion. There will be a mix of industry experts, academics, and students presenting on Safety, Propellants, Cryogenics, Testing, Ignition, Operations, Electronics, and Design. Saturday will also include a tank burst demonstration, hands-on LOX loading, project displays, organized networking, and more. The topics are intentionally organized for beginners (fundamentals), advanced, and special topics. Since there are 3-4 tracks running in parallel you will not be able to attend everything — a good strategy is for teams to divide up and report back on each session. We will also publish many of the presentations on the website following the event.

Can we showcase our rocket project?

Yes, university teams are encouraged to exhibit in the project expo and encouraged to fill out the project poster surveys – these will be turned into 3’x2’ poster board and published in the annual “State of Collegiate Liquid Rocketry” book. Your team captain should coordinate with the organizers (send an email to LiquidPropulsionSymposium@gmail.com )

Will there be networking?

There will be organized networking hours to connect with industry, academics, and project teams. There will also be numerous breaks, meals, and other opportunities to meet and share ideas. Sunday morning is dedicated to space, launch, and propulsion company networking and recruiting. Take the opportunity to meet other teams and learn how they are solving similar challenges.

Will there be streaming or recording?

No, and that is deliberate. The symposium is very much an “analog event” designed to create connection. What makes it magic is hands on hardware, meeting new teams, watching the demonstrations up close, asking questions in small groups, and talking with companies first-hand. We post slides from many of the sessions after the event, which helps if you had to choose between two parallel tracks. But slides are a reference, not a replacement.

Will anything blow-up?

Yes. We will be doing live tank burst demonstrations and BLEVE demonstrations. Good tanks are giving their lives to science – you don’t want to miss it.

How do I sign up for the LOX loading demos?

We will run two sessions to learn about liquid oxygen loading and get a live demonstration with cryo. This year these will be open breakout sessions and do not require sign-ups ahead of time. Demonstrations will be held in the test stand area outside the rocket lab. Meet there during the designated times in the schedules (see map above).

I am a vendor/supplier to the community

Vendors and suppliers to the liquid propulsion community are encouraged to participate and showcase their wares. If you are a vendor and you want to participate, please send an email to: LiquidPropulsionSymposium@gmail.com

Will food be provided?

Yes, there is complimentary food!  Complimentary coffee and breakfast burritos will be provided in the morning and complimentary lunch (In-N-Out Burger) and dinner will be provided by caterers and food trucks. Specific information on food options will be available closer to the date of the event. If you have specific dietary needs or allergies you should plan to bring your own meals and/or there is a cafe at the airport with a broad range of options for purchase or restaurants within a short drive.

Flabob Airport Cafe Menu: https://tinyurl.com/FlabobCafe‍ ‍

What should I wear?

We are super casual. This is primarily a university student event, so wear whatever makes you most comfortable. Weather in Riverside at this time of year can range from cool/cold at night 40s, to mid-70s during the day, depending on weather. Also, airport hangars can be drafty or inconsistent, so please plan on layers and check the weather before departing. Also, please wear good walking shoes. We will be walking between venues around the airport campus.

Do you have a map of the airport?

The Symposium will take place across 4-5 venues at Flabob Airport, including EAA’s Hangar 16A (“Main Stage”), the Tom Wathen Education Center, Building 11A, The Project Expo Hangar, and the Rocket Lab. An event map of the airport can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/FlabobMap

Where do I park?

Parking will be provided on the airport grounds (see map above). Once you arrive at the airport Saturday/Sunday morning you will be directed to the nearest parking by Civil Air Patrol volunteers.

What airport should I fly into?

Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the closest and most convenient airport for the Symposium. It is only about 20 minutes from Flabob Airport by car, depending on traffic, and is generally much easier to get in and out of than LAX.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is also an option and may have more nonstop flights, but it is much farther away. Depending on traffic, the drive from LAX to Riverside can take well over an hour and can be significantly longer during busy periods.

If you have a reasonable flight option into Ontario, we strongly recommend ONT for convenience.

And if you’re flying yourself in — we know who you are, well… we are at an airport. We’ll save you the best parking spot for your airplane. Flabob pilot details here: https://www.flabobairport.org/copy-of-airport-directory

Are there hotels nearby?

Downtown Riverside is only about 5-10 minutes away by car or Uber and there are a number of nice hotels there including the Mission Inn Resort and Spa, the Marriott Riverside, Hyatt Place Riverside, and many more budget friendly options.

Additional Questions?

Send any additional questions to LiquidPropulsionSymposium@gmail.com