Make it fly

Our Rocket

Operations

Concept of Operations

The rocket will be launched from the launch pad where the first stage will be ignited. Once the first motor fully burns out, the booster section will start to drop due to the drag forces it will experience. After the booster is separated from the rest of the rocket, the stage 2 motor will ignite and boost the rocket towards apogee. During this time the booster section will descend to around 1,500 ft where the parachute will deploy. Once the rocket reaches apogee, its drogue chute will deploy, and start the descension process until around 1,500 ft the chute will release for the rocket while simultaneously releasing the payload. Both the rocket and payload will deploy another parachute and descend to the ground completing the flight.

Function Flow Block Diagram

This is the functional flow block diagram for the rocket systems. The function flow block diagram shows all the main components of the rocket and how each component is connected to one another. Every subsystem is labelled with a corresponding color and the method of the connection are seen in the legend. Power being green, physical connections being blue, and data transmissions being purple dotted lines to name a few.

Description of Rocket

The rocket will feature a 2 stage design that is a total of 196” long. The first stage is the booster section of the rocket, which holds the first motor that is ignited along with its recovery system and the avionics to control said system. The second stage includes the Nose, Forward, and Sustainer sections of the rocket. The Sustainer section of the rocket will include a motor. The Forward section of the rocket will include a payload system and an AV bay. The payload system in the Forward section contains a water resupply container as well as the main camera payload. There will also be a 0.13 gal (500 mL) water ballast in the nose cone. The motors of the rocket will be the N3300R for the booster and the M2500T for the sustainer.

Structure

Nose Cone

Forward Section

Sustainer Section

Booster Section

Description

The purpose of the structure subsystem is to protect internal subsystems from external forces exerted onto the rocket during launch. The rocket can be broken up into 4 main sections: the booster, sustainer, forward, and nose cone. The booster section stores the first motor that launches the rocket off the launch rail and provides the initial velocity and momentum. The sustainer section holds a second motor that carries the rocket to apogee after the booster motor burns out. The forward section stores the payload and some of the recovery components. The booster, sustainer, and forward sections use G12 fiberglass tubing as the main framing for the rocket structure. The nose cone section has a 5:1 Von Karman fiberglass transition that connects the forward section to an aluminum tip. The nose cone helps the rocket stability and is subjected to most of the aerodynamic heating and pressure. Fins attached to the booster and sustainer sections will help control the rocket’s center of pressure and keep it stable throughout the flight.

Propulsion

N3300R Booster

M2500T Sustainer

The propulsion subsystem is responsible for the research, testing, procurement, and assembly of the motors that will provide the necessary thrust to propel the rocket to an apogee of 25,000 feet. Each motor features a smoke charge at the front to signal the end of the burn time, indicating that the rocket is now in free flight. At the rear, both motors are equipped with a standard rocket nozzle, designed to optimize gas flow and enhance motor performance by improving efficiency, stability, and thrust. Inside the motor casings, solid propellant is evenly distributed along the length of the casing.

For ignition, a wire runs through the center of the motor casing to connect two electric igniters, each dipped in copper thermite to generate the heat needed to ignite the propellant. The subsystem consists of two motors: the booster, which is part of the first stage, and the sustainer, which is part of the second stage. The booster is powered by an N3300R motor, providing substantial thrust to propel both stages of the rocket. This motor has a length of 41.2 inches and a diameter of 3.86 inches. The sustainer motor, an M2500T, delivers less thrust to ensure the rocket reaches the target apogee without overshooting it. The M2500T motor has a length of 29.5 inches and the same diameter of 3.86 inches.

Simulations and testing have shown that this motor configuration offers the optimal performance for achieving the desired apogee of 25,000 feet.

Recovery

Booster and Forward Avionics Bay Designs

Stage 1 Recovery System

The recovery subsystem will include a total of six parachutes: two drogue parachutes and four main parachutes. For Stage 1, one drogue and one main parachute will be used to safely land the booster section of the rocket. For Stage 2, another drogue and one main parachute will be used for the safe landing of the forward and sustainer sections of the rocket. The third main parachute will be used for landing the payload, which includes a 500 mL water ballast and the nose cone section. The last main parachute will be used to land a 2L water resupply. Each parachute will include a swivel link to reduce twisting and will be connected to the rocket via U-bolts or eye bolts in the avionics bays or bulkheads, using shock cords. There will be a total of nine shock cords, made of braided Kevlar material or 1.25" Kevlar-Covered Tubular Nylon. The Stage 1 recovery system will include a piston that deploys both the drogue and main parachutes using black powder charges. The main parachute will be folded in a parachute deployment bag to protect it from the black powder charges, and a chute protector will be attached to the drogue parachute to shield it from the sustainer motor ignition. A Tender Descender will be attached to the parachute deployment bag, ensuring it does not deploy until the rocket is 1,500 feet above ground level. The Stage 2 recovery system will feature a drogue parachute, also protected by a chute protector from the black powder charges. At 1,500 feet, the piston in the forward section will eject the payload, the 2L water resupply, and the Stage 2 recovery parachute. The recovery system will also include two avionics bays (AV bays) to house the avionics for the booster and forward sections. Each avionics bay will feature a Telemega Flight Computer, which will be used to track the altitude of the rocket, stage the pyro events to ignite the black powder charges, and send live telemetry to the ground station. All recovery components will include GPS to track the location of each section of the rocket. The Telemega Flight Computer also has built-in GPS capability, which will be used in both the booster and forward/sustainer sections. A Simple GPS Tracker will be attached to the payload, and the 2L water resupply will include a Featherweight GPS tracker. These recovery systems ensure the safe retrieval of all rocket components.

Stage 2 Recovery System

Payload

Overhead View of Main Camera Payload with Components

Water Ballast Design

The payload subsystem consists of three different sections: the main camera payload, the water resupply mission, and the water ballast. In the main payload, one camera, the DJI O3 Air Unit will be transmitting live video footage to the ground station while a secondary camera will be storing footage from the flight locally. The water resupply mission consists of a water bottle carrying 0.53 gal (2L) of water separately on chute. To serve as a heat sink for the main camera payload, however, the contents of the water resupply mission will be frozen. The water ballast will carry 0.13 gal (500 mL) of water and release it upon apogee.

Communications and Ground Station

The communications and ground station subsystem will not be responsible for any hardware located within the rocket but instead be responsible for all signal propagated from the rocket’s flight computers, GPS, and live video feed. The data received will then be presented in an organized, user-friendly interface. The communications and ground station subsystem works very closely with the payload and recovery subsystems to ensure that the hardware needed for proper transmission of data is installed within the rocket.