Space Exploration Merit Badge
Eight requirements. The one with a launch day is requirement 3: build, launch and recover a model rocket, then launch again for a specific objective, to the National Association of Rocketry safety code. Two more are things you make: a collector's card and a design for an inhabited base. Requirements 5 and 6 are choices.
The plan behind this
The rocket is the part with a date
Requirement 3 is to build, launch and recover a model rocket, then make a second launch to accomplish a specific objective, and to identify and explain nine rocket parts. The rocket must be built to the National Association of Rocketry safety code.
That needs a kit, engines, an igniter and launch system, and somewhere you are allowed to launch, which usually means an adult or a club with the equipment. Plan the objective of the second launch before the first one.
If local laws prohibit launching model rockets, requirement 3 has an alternative: make a model of a NASA rocket, explain the functions of its parts and give its history. Ask your counselor whether that applies where you live.
Things you make
| requirement | what you make |
|---|---|
| 2 | a collector's card about your favorite space pioneer, picture on the front and information on the back; then discuss four other pioneers |
| 7 | drawings or a model of an inhabited base in the solar system, planned for energy, construction, life support and purpose |
| 5(b) or 5(c), if chosen | a blog, website, slide show or scrapbook on a current planetary mission, or a sample-return mission design |
Requirement 5: do TWO of three
| route | what it needs |
|---|---|
| 5(a) two missions discussed | one robotic mission and one historic crewed mission, their discoveries and importance |
| 5(b) a current mission presented | a blog, website or slide show, or a scrapbook from clippings and articles |
| 5(c) design a sample-return mission | to a planet, moon, comet or asteroid, coping with its conditions |
Requirement 6: ONE of two
Describe the purpose, operation and components of either a crewed orbital vehicle (government or commercial, U.S. or foreign) or the International Space Station.
What this page is
The Space Exploration merit badge, drawn so the rocket launch and its safety code stand out, with the two choices drawn as questions and the things to make marked. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs and which change from year to year. The free official pamphlet is the fuller guide.
Sources for this page
- Space Exploration Merit Badge Requirements, Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2026-08-05 · The requirements themselves, and the free official pamphlet linked from them.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.0.3 · The process every merit badge is earned through, which this page does not repeat.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.4.3 · Which version of a changed requirement applies to a Scout who has already started.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 4.0.0.1 · Why the requirements are not in the Guide to Advancement and are expected to change annually.
Last checked against its sources on .