The USC Rocket Propulsion Lab is a group of largely undergraduate students ardently focused on pushing the state-of-the-art in rocket propulsion technology. Armed with determination and the goal of putting a scratch-built rocket into space, the students associated with this group spend their free time designing, building, and testing experimental rocketry and propulsion hardware both in the lab and at their Mojave test and launch site.

With the advisement of Dr. Daniel Erwin, the RPL operates under the USC Viterbi School's Division of Astronautical Engineering. However, the group is trusted with a great deal of self-management and autonomy, as it is internally managed by its own group of Viterbi undergraduates. The students involved also span most majors as the project requires attention from almost every discipline. Passionate students from the astronautics, aerospace, mechanical, electrical, industrial systems, and material science departments all contribute to the project and work to meet its unique set of obstacles.

With resources dedicated to the in-house development of solid, liquid, hybrid, and electric propulsion technologies, USCRPL maintains its position as the premier undergraduate program of its type in the country.