Rocket Drones
Rocket Drones is a privately held educational technology company that provides K-12 schools with comprehensive drone education programs combining hardware kits, proprietary flight simulation software, curriculum, and FAA Part 107 certification preparation across the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersPensacola, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Rocket Drones does
Rocket Drones is a privately held educational technology company headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, that provides comprehensive drone education programs to K-12 schools across the United States. Founded by drone industry professionals Chris Tonn (formerly of Pelican Drones) and Brandon Turk (formerly of Midsouth Aerials), the company combines hardware kits with proprietary software to deliver a complete pathway from elementary classroom instruction through FAA Part 107 commercial certification. The core technology stack includes a web-based flight simulator with realistic physics, a student progress portal with auto-logged flight hours, a gamified curriculum with drone games (Drone Limbo, Drone Golf, Drone Basketball, Drone Tennis, Drone Drifting) and leaderboards, and a 14-module FAA Part 107 certification prep course. The company also co-developed a U.S. Space Force STEM curriculum with workbooks for grades 3-12.
The company's product portfolio consists of five core offerings: Classroom Drone STEM Kits (priced at $5,000–$8,000), Drone Racing Kits ($25,000, including 12 drones plus software), a web-based Drone Racing Simulator ($1,500/year per site license for up to 100 students), the Intro to Drones Curriculum ($1,500/year per site license), and the FAA Part 107 Certification Program for students aged 16+. Revenue mechanics blend one-time hardware sales with recurring subscription licenses, and pricing tiers include lifetime portal access with hardware purchases. The go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven, targeting K-12 schools, school districts, and CTE programs through direct outreach, virtual demos, quote requests, educational trade shows, and cooperative purchasing via TIPS.
Customer segments span elementary, middle, and high schools with adjacent reach into JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, 4-H afterschool programs, and summer camps. The company operates an ecosystem anchored by the monthly Guardian League simulator competition and the annual National Student Drone Competition hosted at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Space Camp) in Huntsville, Alabama. Rocket Drones is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding and a small core team of four known members, and serves as a manufacturing and operations base in Pensacola, with distribution across at least eight U.S. states.
Rocket Drones firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rocket Drones
- Legal name
- Rocket Drones
- Website
- https://rocketdrones.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Rocket Drones is a privately held educational technology company that provides K-12 schools with comprehensive drone education programs combining hardware kits, proprietary flight simulation software, curriculum, and FAA Part 107 certification preparation across the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rocket Drones industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Drone Kits & STEM Curriculum
- NAICS
- All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Aircraft & Parts (3720)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Drones, UAVs & Aerial Robotics Programs (EDAMADAJ), Robotics Kits, Parts & Lab Equipment Providers (Education-Focused) (EDAMADAN)
Keywords
Where Rocket Drones is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Pensacola
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Rocket Drones business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Drone Hardware Sales: One-time hardware sales of Classroom Drone STEM Kits and Drone Racing Kits to schools and educational institutions. Kits include physical drones, controllers, batteries, chargers, gates, and accessories.
- Curriculum Licensing: Annual site license for Intro to Drones Curriculum covering up to 100 students and teachers per campus. One-year license with renewal options.
- Simulator Licensing: Annual site license for Drone Racing Simulator supporting up to 100 students and 10 computer stations. Included with hardware packages for first year.
- FAA Part 107 Student Licensing: One-year student license for FAA Part 107 certification exam preparation course for students aged 16 and older.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Drone Racing Kit - Complete program with hardware, curriculum, simulator, and FAA certification |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Classroom Kit without Curriculum or Simulator |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Classroom Kit with Curriculum and Simulator |
| Subscription | Annual | Intro to Drones Curriculum Site License |
| Subscription | Annual | Drone Racing Simulator Site License |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels10 records
Rocket Drones product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rocket Drones sells drone education kits and a software platform to K-12 schools, combining physical drone hardware (Classroom STEM Kits and Racing Kits) with a web-based flight simulator, STEM-aligned curriculum, and FAA Part 107 certification preparation. Offerings are sold as turnkey packages or annually licensed site subscriptions (up to 100 users per campus) and are supported by a proprietary student progress portal with auto-logged flight hours, gamified learning, and national league competitions. The product line is explicitly targeted at educators and CTE programs, not individual consumers.
Product overview
Rocket Drones offers a multi-product educational platform for K-12 drone education consisting of five core products: the Classroom Drone STEM Kit (physical hardware for grades 3-12 at $5,000-$8,000), the Drone Racing Kit (competitive racing solution at $25,000 including 12 drones plus software), the Drone Racing Simulator (web-based at $1,500 annual site license), the Intro to Drones Curriculum (semester-long at $1,500 site license), and the FAA Part 107 Certification Program (for students 16+). The platform is complemented by the Space Force Curriculum workbooks, the Aerial Perspectives industry podcast, monthly League Simulator Challenges, and a Find Funding grant assistance service. All products connect through a proprietary portal with auto-logged flight hours, progress tracking, and gamification features, providing a complete pathway from elementary school through career-ready FAA certification.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Classroom Drone STEM Kit An all-in-one STEM education solution for hands-on drone learning in classrooms, designed for grades 3-12 with no prior experience required. Includes 6 rover classroom drones, batteries, chargers, safety equipment, carrying cases, and lifetime portal access. Variants available with or without curriculum and simulator.
- Drone Racing Kit A complete STEM, drone racing, and workforce-readiness solution for middle and high school programs. Includes 6 FPV racing drones, 6 classroom training drones, FPV goggles, controllers, batteries, chargers, inflatable gates, obstacles, web-based race timer, simulator license, curriculum license, and FAA Part 107 certification course.
- Drone Racing Simulator Web-based manual drone flight and racing simulator for grades 6-12 with realistic physics, automatic flight hour logging, gamified missions and games, and national leaderboards. Site license supports up to 100 students and 10 computer stations with monthly competitions and is priced at $1,500 annually.
- Intro to Drones Curriculum A complete, semester-long STEM-aligned curriculum for grades 3-12 covering flight, physics, and innovation. Site license covers up to 100 students and teachers per campus with auto-graded quizzes, gamified activities, and professional development for instructors, priced at $1,500 per year.
- FAA Part 107 Certification Program FAA Part 107 certification pathway for students age 16 and older, preparing them for the FAA Remote Pilot Certificate required for commercial drone operations. Includes 14 modules covering regulations, airspace, weather, and emergency procedures, with three versions of practice tests and a one-year student license.
- Space Force Curriculum & Workbooks Elementary and middle school curriculum developed in partnership with U.S. Space Force, introducing students to aerospace and Space Force careers through age-appropriate workbooks.
Quantifiable outcome
- Students earn FAA Part 107 certification and log flight hours for employer-verifiable credentials
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Rocket Drones
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Rocket Drones technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature5 records
Rocket Drones partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.
- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)corePartnership with AOPA for aviation education and drone career pathway development, leveraging AOPA's resources and industry connections for students interested in aviation careers.
- Advanced Air Mobility InstitutecoreCollaboration with Advanced Air Mobility Institute to support education and workforce development for emerging air mobility technologies and drone applications.
- National Flight AcademycorePartnership hosting the annual National Student Drone Competition at the National Flight Academy facility in Huntsville, Alabama.
- U.S. Space & Rocket CentercoreHome of Space Camp and the National Student Drone Competition venue, providing experiential learning environment for student drone pilots.
- U.S. Space ForcecoreDeveloped Space Force STEM outreach curriculum and workbooks for elementary and secondary students, with promotional presence on spaceforce.com careers page. Curriculum covers aerospace concepts and Space Force career pathways.
- Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE)secondaryPartnership with ACTE to reach career and technical education professionals and promote drone CTE programs in schools.
- National Esports AssociationsecondaryPartnership to integrate drone racing into esports programs and competitions for schools, expanding reach to gaming-inclined student populations.
- TIPS (The Interlocal Purchasing System)coreAwarded vendor status enabling schools across the U.S. to purchase Rocket Drones products through TIPS cooperative purchasing contracts, streamlining procurement for educational institutions.
- Jeff Pino FoundationminorPartnership supporting drone education and aviation-related initiatives in memory of Jeff Pino, former Sikorsky President.
- Cornell Cooperative Extension - 4-Hminor4-H Afterschool Programs implementing Rocket Drones curriculum and training, reaching youth across Cornell Cooperative Extension's network of afterschool programs.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Rocket Drones competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Drone Legends: Drone Legends provides K-12 drone education curriculum, drone kits, and competitions. They target the same elementary-to-high-school STEM/CTE customer with similar product packaging of hardware bundled with curriculum and certification pathways.
- PCS Edventures: PCS Edventures sells STEM education kits and curriculum to K-12 schools, including robotics, drones, and engineering programs. They compete with Rocket Drones in the broader STEM kits-and-curriculum category within school procurement budgets.
- DroneBlocks: DroneBlocks is a direct competitor offering drone education programming, curriculum, and simulator tools to K-12 schools. Their block-based coding platform for drone flight targets the same school STEM/CTE buyer with a software-first, hardware-agnostic approach versus Rocket Drones' integrated hardware-plus-curriculum model.
- Tyto Robotics: Tyto Robotics provides drone training and simulation software for education, including flight simulators and curriculum tools. They compete with Rocket Drones' web-based simulator and FAA Part 107 training offerings for high school and collegiate drone programs.
- Drobots: Drobots runs drone-focused STEM summer camps, after-school programs, and curriculum for K-12 schools. They compete directly with Rocket Drones in the drone education niche, particularly in afterschool and summer camp channels serving the same school district buyers.
Broad incumbents
- Parrot Education: Parrot's education program supplies drones (particularly the ANAFI platform) and educational content to schools globally. They compete with Rocket Drones in drone-based STEM education with the backing of a major European drone OEM's R&D and distribution scale.
- DJI Education: DJI Education, the education arm of the world's largest consumer/commercial drone manufacturer, offers drone hardware, RoboMaster programs, and curriculum to schools. They are a broad incumbent that competes on hardware scale, pricing leverage, and a wider product portfolio versus Rocket Drones' niche focus.
Others
- STEMfinity: STEMfinity is a STEM education supply distributor offering drone kits, robotics, and curriculum to K-12 schools. They are a distribution/adjacent channel rather than direct competitor, but schools often encounter Rocket Drones alternatives through STEMfinity's catalog.
Emerging players
- Aerial Destinations: Aerial Destinations offers drone camps and youth drone education programs focused on experiential learning. They are an emerging player with partial overlap on the youth drone education market, particularly in summer camp and recreational aviation channels.
- Youth Drone Sports Challenge: YDSC organizes competitive drone racing leagues and STEM competitions for K-12 students. They overlap with Rocket Drones' Guardian League simulator challenges and National Student Drone Competition events as a community/competition layer.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Rocket Drones social profiles
Digital presenceRocket Drones financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rocket Drones leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Rocket Drones funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rocket Drones M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rocket Drones
What does Rocket Drones do?
Rocket Drones sells drone education kits and a software platform to K-12 schools, combining physical drone hardware (Classroom STEM Kits and Racing Kits) with a web-based flight simulator, STEM-aligned curriculum, and FAA Part 107 certification preparation. Offerings are sold as turnkey packages or annually licensed site subscriptions (up to 100 users per campus) and are supported by a proprietary student progress portal with auto-logged flight hours, gamified learning, and national league competitions. The product line is explicitly targeted at educators and CTE programs, not individual consumers.
Is Rocket Drones a public or private company?
Rocket Drones is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rocket Drones founded?
Rocket Drones was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Rocket Drones based?
Rocket Drones is headquartered in Pensacola, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rocket Drones make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Drone Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are curriculum Licensing, simulator Licensing and FAA Part 107 Student Licensing.
Who are Rocket Drones's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Drone Legends, PCS Edventures, DroneBlocks, Tyto Robotics and Drobots. Broad incumbents are Parrot Education and DJI Education. STEMfinity is listed as an others. Emerging players are Aerial Destinations and Youth Drone Sports Challenge.
Does Rocket Drones have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rocket Drones.
What industry is Rocket Drones in?
Rocket Drones's product category is Educational Drone Kits & STEM Curriculum. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFANAB, Robotics Learning Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAMADAJ, Drones, UAVs & Aerial Robotics Programs. Its NAICS code is 61169 and its SIC code is 8200.