--- title: "Watch These Madmen Attach a Rocket Engine to a Christmas Tree and Launch It Like a Festive Missile" description: "Courtesy of YouTube channel \"BPS Space,\" we get to watch a rocket-powered Christmas tree soar to an altitude of almost 300 feet." date: "2021-12-20" modified: "2021-12-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/rocket-engine-christmas-tree" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "christmas" - "rocket launch" - "the digest" --- # Watch These Madmen Attach a Rocket Engine to a Christmas Tree and Launch It Like a Festive Missile ![Courtesy of YouTube channel "BPS Space," we get to watch a rocket-powered Christmas tree soar to an altitude of almost 300 feet.]() *\Image: BPS Space\* ## Season's Yeetings Courtesy of YouTube channel [BPS Space,]() we get to watch a rocket-powered Christmas tree soar to an altitude of almost 300 feet — an appropriate metaphor, perhaps, for many of us cancelling plans to see loved ones over the holidays. The ragtag group of engineers, many of whom are working in the aerospace industry, strapped a seven foot tree to a four-winged structure. A small solid-fuel rocket engine allowed the tree to take off into the sky over the Mojave desert in California — truly a beautiful sight to behold, and a fitting sendoff for an anxiety-laden 2021. https://youtu.be/AlLquMhQiz4 ## Tree Falling The folks behind BPS Space did hit some snags along the way. "The thing with amateur rocketry is that it's amateur rocketry," rocketeer Joe Barnard said in the video. "Sometimes things don't work on the first try and sometimes they don't work on the second try and sometimes they don't work on the third try." But on the fourth attempt, everything went almost perfectly according to plan. The LED-filled tannenbaum rocketed into the air, sending some fake presents attached to its base spinning. The team is also auctioning off "Season's Yeetings" Christmas ornaments that made it into the air while attached to the tree in January to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The launch is a fitting bookend for the year 2022. We can only hope that next year's Christmas season will be all the merrier. **READ MORE:** [Rocket Powered Christmas Tree]() \[YouTube\] **More on rocket launches:** *[Scientists Are "Terrified" of NASA's James Webb Telescope Launch]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()