September Club

Each year, students gather from all over North America to compete in the First Nations Launch, a rocket competition in the midwest developed by NASA and supported by organizations including Blue Origin, Sierra Space, GE Aerospace and US Space Force. The Mission: Nurture underserved Native American talent in the aerospace industry.

LAUNCH follows the students over the course of a three day weekend as they troubleshoot designs, oversleep alarms, underestimate time to launch, overcome inevitable last minute obstacles and ultimately – find community. .

Since filming began, the First Nations Launch competition has been defunded – a victim of the current administration’s sweeping  DEI initiatives.  And at school, students who are in the film have found their scholarships revoked, their graduate study programs cancelled and have returned to campuses that are navigating a top-down assault on educational institutions and identity groups. Some Native American mentors featured in LAUNCH have been let go from their jobs, while others have found the need to distance themselves from direct involvement with programs that can be construed as DEI.

Thus, the story evolves. The film will feature the First Nations Launch Class of 2025 – its’ final class – as well as the charming and inspirational story of their rocket journey. But now the story will expand and follow up with these resilient, funny and determined young indigenous kids as they navigate new obstacles along their path towards becoming future engineers, scientists and astronauts.

To see a complete treatment of the project: LAUNCH Pitch Deck 2025

To see more of September Club’s work: September Club

For further information, contact: denise@september.club