IRESS 2025
On April 28th, 2025, the third edition of the Italian Rocket Engineering Student Summit (IRESS) was held at Sapienza University of Rome. The summit brought together the most prominent university rocketry teams from across Italy, creating a space for dialogue, technical exchange and a shared passion for aerospace engineering.
Among the participating teams were the Sapienza Rocket Team from Sapienza University of Rome, Thrust Team from the University of Padua, Skyward Experimental Rocketry from Politecnico di Milano, PoliTo Rocket Team from Politecnico di Torino, UniNa Rockets from the University of Naples Federico II, Red Propulsion from the University of Florence, Aurora Rocketry from the University of Bologna, Starpi Team from the University of Pisa, DOPE Aerospace from the University of Genova and Space Eagles. Each of these groups presented their ongoing work, showcasing progress made in the past year, outlining technical achievements and sharing future objectives. Their presentations reflected a growing culture of research, experimentation and collaboration in the Italian academic rocketry landscape.
A core part of the summit was dedicated to lectures on SRAD (Student Researched and Developed) technologies, with the five top-performing teams offering detailed insights into their most innovative in-house developments. Our team, Thrust from the University of Padua, gave a lecture focused on MOV: a newly developed automatic SRAD valve for hybrid propulsion systems. Beyond the technical talks, IRESS 2025 hosted a special session led by AVIO, one of the leading European companies in the field of space propulsion. Their presentation provided an overview of the company’s history, current projects and future directions. They answered questions, shared advice, and helped bridge the gap between academic research and the professional aerospace world, giving attendees a concrete glimpse into the career paths that lie ahead.
One of the most engaging moments of the summit was a roundtable debate on hybrid rocket propulsion.Our propulsion department team leader participated in the panel, sharing our team’s insights and exchanging ideas with students, professors and engineers.
Through presentations, debates and direct contact with industry professionals, the summit empowered students to continue pushing boundaries and building the future of space exploration. IRESS 2025 left students inspired, connected and more determined than ever to shape the future of rocketry in Italy.
