Information About CATO

CATO is a sport rocketry club formed in February of 1998 as Tripoli SE Connecticut  (Prefecture n27) and National Association of Rocketry Section #581. CATO serves the Central and Eastern sport rocketry community with launch sites in Sterling, CT and Durham, CT.  CATO has a strong family-centric ethic and rocketeers of all ages are always welcome on the flying field at any CATO event. CATO has a strong outreach drive to provide educational rocketry whenever and wherever needed. The most common outreach activity is provide launch site operations to Scouts and similar youth organizations. Several CATO members are also Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) Mentors.

CATO is also home of the now renowned ViperFest!

CATO is a charter organize of the Northeast Regional Rocket Festival - NERRF - held every Summer on the first weekend after Fathers Day.

So how is CATO organized?

• CATO has a board of directors made up of the principal officers and two unlucky folks selected at random by the President  - Information on our officers

• CATO is chartered to meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3) of the tax code which allows CATO to exist as and receive the benefits of a tax exempt organization - CATO Charter

Well some have said that it means ..- Catastrophic failure At Take Off. (well, not really our intention) 

Other pundits have suggested:

• Connecticut Area Tripoli Organization. - (doesn't do justice to our NAR affiliation)

• Connecticut Area Takes Off - (but people from Rhode Island might be offended) 

• Carefully Arranged Tree Ornaments - (so, good intentions now mean nothing?) 

•  Contraptions Accelerating Toward Orbit - (thank you Mr.Goldberg...) 

• Crash, Assess, Tantrum, re Order - (... and you Mr Murphy) 

• Consumes Assets allocated To Others - (I bet my wife put you up to that?)