THIS MONTH: Program updates - AE Safety Check -

News and Events - Curriculum - Outreach

K-6 teachers and students across the nation are enjoying Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) the interactive program designed to engage and inspire early-aged youth toward an interest in aviation, space, and other STEM-related careers. The ACE Program uses the aerospace theme to integrate academics, character education, and physical fitness while helping students connect content skills with real-life application. Each teacher in this grade-specific program gets a class set of educational materials. Click the link to register now!

With our ACE Plus program, teachers in grades 5-8 who register for the ACE program can have their classroom adopted by a local CAP squadron with adults and cadets coming into the classroom to teach ACE and other aerospace/STEM lessons!



Interested teachers can complete the top of the Request to Collaborate Form and send to their state’s volunteer Director of Aerospace Education (DAE) as found on the list HERE. The state’s DAE will connect the teacher to a squadron, which will complete the bottom portion of the form and submit to adopt@capnhq.gov for processing.

AEX Award completion deadline for the 2025-2026 cycle is approaching for squadrons:  

Aerospace Education Excellence (AEX) completion counts toward earning the Squadron AE Achievement Award.

It is not too late to submit your AEX completion reports or even to apply for the 2025-2026 AEX program. As long as you have kept records of your activity dates, you can apply and fill out the report with any activities that occurred from Oct. 1-Sept. 30.

Time is running out:

Sept. 30 is the deadline for completing the award for the 2025-2026 year (and therefore having it count toward the Squadron AE Achievement Award). Again, AEX program activities should take place from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 each year. Activities and resources are available in Absorb LMS, accessible in eServices. Or you may use your own activities or lessons from a like-minded STEM education organization. Participating in the CAP/NASA Missions, the CAP High-Altitude Balloon Challenge, CyberPatriot, StellarXplorers, and STEM Kit lessons also make great activities to apply toward AEX completion.

To learn more about the AEX Program and the instructions for completing the program, click the link below. If you have any questions about AEX or filling out the completion report, please contact aex@capnhq.gov. We are here to help.

Design the next CAP/NASA mission

patch for PACE Precision 2027

Want to be part of a real-world AE mission — and help make history? You have the opportunity to design the official 2027 CAP/NASA PACE Precision Mission Patch, creating a symbol that represents space exploration, science, Earth, and the excitement of discovering something new.

Your design could become part of the story of this groundbreaking mission and a piece of history. Dream it. Design it. Look to the skies. Be part of the mission!

PACE Precision 2027 is a Civil Air Patrol mission conducted in partnership with NASA, centered on NASA's PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem ) satellite. This exciting mission gives you the chance to join an effort to study Earth’s atmosphere, clouds, aerosols, and weather from both the ground and space while helping NASA better understand what its satellites are seeing above our planet. But every great mission needs a great mission patch! Submit your design at the link below.

The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) offers two national STEM competitions to inspire students toward STEM careers, and deadlines are nearing.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL CYBERPATRIOT

Registration for CyberPatriot 19 closes Oct. 1. This cyber defense competition puts high school and middle school students in charge of securing virtual networks.

• Payment is due by Nov. 5 --- but CAP Squadron teams do not have to pay a registration fee due to support from AFA.  
• Read all about registering a team HERE.  

Fees:

• Open Division: $225
• Middle School Division: $175
• All Service Division: Automatically Waived
• A fee waiver request can be made for Title I schools.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STELLARXPLORERS

Registration for the StellarXplorers competition closes Oct. 14. The program is a space system design competition that challenges teams of students to solve orbit planning, satellite component, and launch operation scenarios in a series of online rounds.

NOTE: This year AFA has made adjustments to the registration fees and waiver structure and understands this change may affect some participating schools and programs. For more information on this, consult the StellarXplorers website.

• High School & Middle School team = $250 / team
• JROTC unit = $125 / team (all team members must be part of the unit to be eligible for this price).
• Civil Air Patrol squadron = $125 / team (all team members must be part of the squadron to be eligible for this price)

*Fees waived for teams at Title I Schools.*

For members coaching a CyberPatriot or StellarXplorers team, or doing so for the first time, CAP Cyber has an opportunity to help you kick start your program! Although this is intended for new coaches, any coach or prospective coach is welcome – this is a great way to learn about the programs, both national STEM competitions of the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA).

Maj. Bill Blatchley, Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters Cyber Mission Team Deputy for Education and Awareness, is hosting bi-weekly coaches meetings to help get you started.

StellarXplorers meetings will be on the first and third Thursday of each month; CyberPatriot will be on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. During these sessions, you will learn about creating a team, how to obtain the Systems Toolkit software, how to create STK scenarios, and the overall structure of these AFA competitions. The meetings will be at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific via Microsoft Teams and will usually last approximately one hour. All training sessions will be recorded so that they can be viewed at a later time if you miss a training session or want to review it.

Pre-registration is required using Registration Zone. To register, click the links below.

Questions?



Email cyber-programs@cap.gov for additional information.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to general aviation. AOPA’s Aviation Curriculum and Civil Air Patrol’s Aerospace Education Member program share the core goal of utilizing aviation and aerospace as a captivating, project-based hook to teach STEM concepts and build future aviation professionals. Both programs are aligned with national education standards and supply extensive teaching materials.

• AOPA’s curriculum focuses on high school aviation, which requires a strong background in science and math.
• CAP provides free STEM Kits and grade-appropriate manipulatives (like balsa wood gliders or paper airplanes) that help younger or foundational-level students physically experience principles of flight before tackling advanced equations in the AOPA curriculum.
• Both focus on building "career-ready" skills across similar disciplines, specifically manned aircraft (pilot tracks) and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drones).

Because these programs share these foundational missions, the two programs can be used in tandem by school districts and their educators. While AOPA provides the structured, year-long classroom curricula and comprehensive syllabi, CAP’s AEM program serves as an invaluable resource to supplement those classes by providing engaging, interactive materials like STEM Kits, free flight simulators, Teacher Orientation Program (TOP) flights, and the ever present possibility of recruiting potential Cadet memberships.



Learn more about AOPA’s Program at the links below.

(Pictured: Lt. Col. Chris Vanchure, New Jersey Wing Group AEO, USAF (retired), presents to students enrolled in St. Rose's High School's AOPA curriculum. Lt. Col. Vanchure has included St. Rose students as an extension of ACE Plus).

We continue to update our STEM Learning Resources.

One major change that you may have noticed is that our curriculum products are no longer available at eServices > AE Resources and Downloads. So that all resources are together in one spot, all digital products have been migrated to Absorb LMS. Click the link below to get to Absorb LMS.

Also, if you have not checked it out, the former "Curriculum" page is now the "STEM Learning Resources" page on the AE section of GoCivilAirPatrol.com. The new design better reflects the upgrades and changes we have made to our learning products and how you access them.

Our revised lesson framework.

• Built-in facilitator support
• Expanded educational standards
• Digital extensions
• Safety guides
• Lesson debrief surveys

All lessons (newly reimagined activities as well as legacy favorites) are now available in Absorb LMS (eServices > Online learning > Absorb). Click below to check it out and see what's new!

(These safety tips are things to think about as you lead or participate in an Aerospace Education activity. The writer of this monthly feature is Lt. Col. Karen Cooper, National AE Manager, who works in safety and risk management on the AE National Headquarters Staff and is also the Northeast Region DCS/Aerospace Education.)

If you have a safety topic you would like to be included in this space, please email kcooper@ner.cap.gov.

Civil Air Patrol's Aerospace Education team shared the innovation and impact of its products and programs with members who attended the 2026 National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, Aug. 29-30. At the AE tables in the event's Hangar exhibit hall, cadets and senior members explored AE's programs and products. A Sphero racing challenge and a space to try out some new squadron-ready learning activities (pictured) made the exhibit interactive. In addition, the National AE Team led a learning session to provide attendees the latest in AE program updates and hosted Office Hours to answer member questions. A video produced for National Conference highlighted the impact of the AE Program in 2026. Click the link to see the video and read more.

Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education

Contact: Aerospace Education

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/ae