A small-town Alabama student with big ambitions in spaceflight and rocket engineering is receiving national recognition for his early achievements in aerospace research and experimentation.
Clayton Dalton, a senior at Sylvania High School in northeast Alabama, has been named a 2026 Keynote Scholarship runner-up by the National Space Club and Foundation and will receive a $25,000 scholarship as he prepares to study aerospace engineering at Auburn University.
He was selected as first runner-up from more than 190 applicants, with five finalists chosen, and has been invited to attend the organization’s Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington.
Dalton credits a childhood rocket launch and North Alabama’s space heritage with shaping his goals.
“The first moment I truly remember being fascinated with space was back in 2018 watching the first Falcon Heavy launch,” he said.
He also points to repeated visits to Space Camp and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center as formative experiences.
Dalton has already built a substantial technical resume. He launched weather balloons through the University of Alabama in Huntsville DETECTS program, collecting and presenting atmospheric data. He later participated in the NASA TechRise Student Challenge, leading a team that designed and built a balloon-borne experiment that flew from South Dakota, and helped design and fly the HARV experiment.
He has pursued sport rocketry for five years and earned Level 1 High Power Rocketry certification with the National Association of Rocketry, logging more than 30 launches.
Dalton says engineering is not only a personal pursuit but also a way to encourage others.
“I do all of this not only to pursue my own goals, but also to give back to the next generation,” he said, noting he has demonstrated and taught others about rockets and weather balloons.
He plans to attend Auburn University this fall to study aerospace engineering, compete in rocketry competitions, and continue building toward a career in launch vehicle development, with aspirations to work for NASA or commercial space companies.
“Spaceflight is deeply important to me,” Dalton said. “I strongly believe that a robust national spaceflight program benefits our country in countless ways.”
From a small northeast Alabama town to national recognition in the space community, Dalton’s path shows how early curiosity, hands-on experience, and persistence can translate into real aerospace opportunity. With college and advanced rocketry work ahead, he is aiming not only for a career in spaceflight — but to join the next generation helping carry America’s space program forward.
Courtesy of 256 Today