Space Exploration is about how people learn about and travel beyond Earth. You will build and launch a model rocket, study real missions, and imagine what living in space might be like. It's science, engineering, and imagination all in one.
Why it's worth it
The weather app on a phone, GPS directions, and pictures of distant planets all exist because people decided to explore space. On this badge you'll launch your own rocket, follow real robot missions, and design a place where people could live off Earth. It's a chance to use math, science, and imagination together, and it connects to careers from engineering and coding to medicine and mission control.
Start this week
- Tonight, look up when the International Space Station will pass over your area and plan to watch it with your family.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Space Exploration counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Pick a space pioneer you're curious about for your collector's card and start a list of facts.
- Talk with your leaders about when and where your troop could hold a model rocket launch with an adult.
Stay safe
- Launch model rockets only with an adult, in a large open area away from trees, power lines, and dry grass, and follow the model rocket safety code and your kit's instructions.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
Why we explore space
Tips for this section: Think about inventions that came from space research, like weather satellites, and talk about why exploring space matters.
Example for this section: Give three real benefits: weather satellites that warn of hurricanes, GPS that helps ambulances find addresses, and science that helps us understand Earth's climate. Then share why you think exploring is worth it.
- Requirement 1a
Explain the historical reasons for exploring space
- Requirement 1b
Explain the near-term goals of space exploration in terms of specific things we want to learn
- Requirement 1c
Explain the benefits for Earth's resources, technology, and new products
- Requirement 1d
Explain how space exploration affects international relations and cooperation
- Requirement 2
Make a collector's card for your favorite space pioneer, with a picture on the front and facts on the back. Share it with your counselor and discuss four other space pioneers
Tip: Pick a space pioneer you admire and make a collector's card with a drawing and a few key facts.
For example: On the front of your card, draw or print a picture of someone like Katherine Johnson, Neil Armstrong, or Mae Jemison. On the back, list when they lived, what they did, and one fact that surprised you.
- Requirement 3
With an experienced or qualified person your counselor approves supervising, and following Scouting's rocket safety rules, build, launch, and recover a model rocket, then launch again for a set goal. Identify and explain the parts below. If launches are illegal locally, model a NASA rocket instead, explain its parts, and give its history
Tip: Build a simple rocket kit and launch it in an open field with an experienced adult your counselor approves, following Scouting's rocket safety rules. Then launch it again to reach a goal you set, like a target height.
- Requirement 3a
Body tube
- Requirement 3b
Engine mount
- Requirement 3c
Fins
- Requirement 3d
Igniter
- Requirement 3e
Launch lug
- Requirement 3f
Nose cone
- Requirement 3g
Payload
- Requirement 3h
Recovery system
- Requirement 3i
Rocket engine
- Requirement 4
Rocket and satellite science
Tips for this section: Watch a launch video and talk about how rockets push themselves upward and stay in orbit.
Example for this section: Explain propulsion with a balloon rocket on a string: air rushing out one way pushes the balloon the other way. Then describe how a satellite stays in orbit because it's falling around Earth while moving sideways fast.
- Requirement 4a
Discuss and demonstrate the law of action and reaction
- Requirement 4b
Discuss and demonstrate how rocket engines work
- Requirement 4c
Discuss and demonstrate how satellites stay in orbit
- Requirement 4d
Discuss and demonstrate how images of Earth and other planets are captured by spacecraft and sent back
- Requirement 5
Space missions. Choose 2 of 3
Tips for this section: Pick two of the three options, like comparing a robotic mission with a historic crewed one, or designing your own sample-return mission.
Example for this section: Your two activities could be a talk comparing the Voyager probes with the Apollo 11 landing, and a scrapbook or slide show following a current mission, like a Mars rover or Europa Clipper, with photos and articles you collect.
- Requirement 5a
With your counselor, discuss one robotic space mission and one historic crewed mission: what each found, why it mattered, and what it taught us about the places explored
- Requirement 5b
Make a blog, website, slide show, or scrapbook about a current planetary mission using photos, articles, and other material from the internet, magazines, or newspapers
- Requirement 5c
Design a robotic mission that brings surface samples back to Earth from a planet, moon, comet, or asteroid. Name your target and show how your design handles its environment
- Requirement 6
Crewed spacecraft. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Find pictures of the space station or a crew capsule and describe how astronauts live and work inside.
- Requirement 6a
Explain what a space shuttle or other crewed orbital vehicle (government, U.S. or foreign, or commercial) is for, how it works, and its main parts
- Requirement 6b
Explain what the International Space Station is for, how it works, and its main parts
- Requirement 7
Design a base where people could live somewhere in our solar system, such as Titan or an asteroid, and make drawings or a model of it. Your plan must cover the items below
Tip: Sketch a base on the Moon or Mars and think about how people would get air, water, and food.
For example: Sketch a base on Mars and label how people get air (from water or the atmosphere), water (from underground ice), food (greenhouses), power (solar panels), and protection from radiation (covering the base with soil).
- Requirement 7a
Where its energy comes from
- Requirement 7b
How it will be built
- Requirement 7c
Its life-support system
- Requirement 7d
Its purpose and function
- Requirement 8
Explore careers in space exploration. Research one: training, education, costs, job outlook, pay, duties, and advancement (searches, interviews, or visits need a parent's or guardian's OK). Discuss with your counselor what you found and what makes it interesting to you
Tip: Look up careers at NASA or private space companies, and ask a science teacher which classes help.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A planetarium or science museum
Shows and exhibits let you see spacecraft, rockets, and the night sky in a way you can't from home.
How: Have an adult check the schedule for shows and space exhibits, and ask about group rates for your patrol or troop.
A model rocketry club launch
Experienced flyers can show you bigger rockets, how they check safety, and how they recover models.
How: Have a leader look up a local rocketry club through the national rocketry association and ask if your troop can watch a public launch.
Where it can lead
- Aerospace engineerDesigns rockets, spacecraft, and satellites.
- AstronautComes from science, engineering, medicine, or military flying backgrounds, and trains for years.
- Aerospace technicianBuilds, tests, and repairs spacecraft parts; often trained at a technical college or in the military.
- Planetary scientistStudies data from robotic missions to learn about planets and moons.
- Flight controllerWorks in mission control watching over spacecraft and crews.
Ask yourself
- What question about space do you most want answered in your lifetime?
- What went right or wrong with your rocket launches, and what would you change next time?
- Which space mission or pioneer inspired you most, and why?
- What was the hardest problem to solve when you designed your space base?
- How could the things you like to do now connect to a space career someday?
Good questions to ask an engineer, scientist, or educator who works on space
- What does a normal day at your job look like?
- What's a problem you worked on that took a long time to solve?
- What classes or activities helped you most when you were my age?
- What do you think people will explore next in the solar system?
- What's something about space that still amazes you?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Plan a rocket launch day in an open field with adult supervision.
- Visit a planetarium or science museum together.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- NASA (opens in a new tab) — Mission information, images, and education resources.
- National Association of Rocketry (opens in a new tab) — Model rocket safety and local clubs.
- Local planetarium or science museum — Hands-on space exhibits and shows.
- NASA Space Place (opens in a new tab) — Games, explainers, and activities about planets, rockets, and Earth.
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (opens in a new tab) — News and images from robotic missions to Mars and beyond.
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (opens in a new tab) — Real spacecraft, astronaut stories, and online exhibits.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.