The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is an international organization and one of the two major organizing bodies for high power rocketry in the United States.

History

Tripoli Rocketry Association was founded in 1964 in the

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, region as a high school science club, integrating both rocketry and space science. The name "Tripoli" was chosen because the founding members came from three different towns, and one of them helped fund the club's early projects using gold coins that his father had brought back from Tripoli (whose name approximately means "three towns")

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. By the late-1980s, it transitioned from a regional club into formal, incorporated, USA-national organization, with a focus on self-regulating advanced, High-Power Rocketry (HPR). The deregulation of the aviation industry by the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

also facilitated the growth of HPR activities. The founder was Francis G. Graham. Early members who helped expand the club were Curtis W. Hughes, Kenneth J. Good, and Arthur R. Bower, with Thomas J. (Tom) Blazanin leading its formalization as an incorporated national organization in 1987 with the assistance of Alaska lawyer Darrel J. Gardner. Tripoli organizes many rocket launches, both regional events hosted by local prefectures and larger international launches like LDRS ("Large Dangerous Rocket Ships") and BALLS. They also provide insurance for organized launches, administer a member certification program for flying high power rockets, and perform testing and certification of commercial hobby rocket motors. Tripoli has expanded internationally over the years, and currently has clubs in many different countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, it formerly was active in Israel. Tripoli was involved as a plaintiff in a nine-year lawsuit (in conjunction with the National Association of Rocketry as a co-plaintiff) against the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

(ATF) as the defendant, regarding its claims of jurisdiction over and legal classifications regarding permitting, storage, and use of

ammonium perchlorate composite propellant Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) is a solid-propellant rocket fuel. It differs from many traditional solid rocket propellants such as black powder or zinc-sulfur, not only in chemical composition and overall performance but als ...

(APCP) in rocket motors. On March 16, 2009, the

United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...

for the District of Columbia found in favor of TRA/NAR, and ordered the ATF to vacate APCP from its list of regulated explosives.

External links

Tripoli Rocketry Association web site
* Patricia Leigh Brown;

'; New York Times, October 14, 2006 * Mike Anton; '' ttp://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/18/local/me-rocketeer18 Spare Time Rocket Science';

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

, January 18, 2008

References

{{Reflist Organizations based in Nebraska Model rocketry Model rocketry