A survey of liquid rocket engine propulsion and space shot student efforts in the USA
In the past few years, liquid propulsion and space shot rocket clubs have popped up at high schools and colleges worldwide. These clubs give students hands-on experience designing, building, and testing rockets using liquid propellants. The most well-known of these clubs is probably the one at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The MIT Rocket Team has been around for over 50 years and has launched many successful rockets, including a recent one that reached an altitude of over 30 km. Other notable clubs include those at Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and Purdue University. These clubs allow students to learn about a cutting-edge field of engineering. They are also providing a path for those interested in pursuing careers in aerospace engineering and other related fields.
MASA at UMich
Michigan’s student rocketry team is MASA. Engineers are brought together to design, build, and launch liquid-fueled rockets using a multidisciplinary approach. MASA is divided into seven subteams, allowing team members to develop their engineering, business, outreach, and leadership skills. As a team, MASA is working to take Michigan to new heights!
The Clementine rocket was designed by MASA as a single-stage, supersonic sounding rocket. In addition to its pressure-fed kerolox system, Clementine features seam-welded stainless steel propellant tanks, advanced avionics, composite aerostructures, and more. In the United States, it is the largest student-built rocket, standing over 20' tall and 10.5" in diameter.
https://youtu.be/2v1LnBObIhM?embedable=true
University of Southern California Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (USCRPL)
Having set out to build a rocket from scratch, USCRPL was the first student organization in the world to successfully launch and recover a rocket (Traveller IV) that was designed and manufactured entirely by students. The Karman line, which is located at 100 kilometres (328,084 feet), is an international boundary of space. The lab is now moving forward with more ambitious goals within our atmosphere and beyond it.
An 8-inch diameter vehicle, Traveler IV was launched from Spaceport America in the spring of 2019. It reached an apogee of 339,800 ft with an uncertainty of 16,500 ft, setting the record for the highest altitude ever reached by a student-designed vehicle in history; it is also the first fully designed vehicle built by students to cross the Kármán line with 90% confidence.
The leading edges of Traveler IV’s fins showed excessive heating, and the paint was completely burned off. Additionally, imperfections in the flight trajectory were observed immediately off the pad, as the rocket appeared to oscillate for the first few seconds of flight. It is unknown what caused this phenomenon; the most likely explanation is that it was caused by damage observed after the flight. Recovery system deployment ensured that the vehicle landed gently, and the avionics unit successfully recorded data on several instruments that would lead to the determination of apogee altitude.
They even have a documentary covering their historic effort.
https://youtu.be/72VkAoYt8mk?embedable=true
MIT Rocket Team
With a mission to push space exploration to its highest potential, the MIT Rocket Team is at the forefront of collegiate sounding rocket development. Around 100 undergraduates make up The team, which builds rockets to reach space, learning as much as possible while doing so, and sharing our rocketry experience.
The team launched in 2014 and has climbed to over 30,000 ft since then. Every year, they use fewer off-the-shelf parts and learn more about how to reach space.
Besides designing, manufacturing, and testing liquid rocket engines, their liquid propulsion team also manufactures all necessary test infrastructure and feed systems for testing. Team members manufacture all components on campus. We have recently completed the fabrication of a heat sink 1.6 kN Ethanol/LOX engine ready for hot-fire, and we are now designing a regeneratively cooled Kerosene/LOX engine.
They made a video that shows some of the activities of the team.
https://youtu.be/nP_4IuiQ1XM?embedable=true
SEDS UC San Diego
SEDS at UCSD stands for the simple mission of advancing the next generation of space exploration and industry development. These students are some of the brightest and most driven students on the planet. Through innovative engineering advances and business development, SEDS pushes the boundaries of what is deemed possible. While performing research that pushes the space industry forward, they pioneer industry-level rocketry projects and cultivate leaders in both engineering and business fields.
SEDS UCSD Propulsion Team focuses on pushing the boundaries of propulsion technology both collegiately and in the industry. The team has a proven history of firsts, such as the first additively manufactured rocket engine to be hot-fired (Tri-D) and the first additively manufactured rocket engine to be flown (Ignus I).
Ignus II Hot-fire has been published on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/ddH0S3rseSs?embedable=true
A next-generation rocket engine, Nephas, is currently being designed and verified by the Propulsion Team.
The Nephas rocket engine is a throttling, thrust vectoring, reusable, restartable, pressure-fed, LOX-LCH4 rocket engine manufactured from copper superalloy additively. Designed to operate as a complete standalone package with minimal integration with its vehicle, Nephas will propel both Odyssey and Halya.
San Diego State University Rocket Project
Founded by students at San Diego State University, the SDSU Rocket Project designs builds and launches liquid and solid rockets. By providing hands-on engineering experience, they aim to develop members’ technical and professional skills while creating innovative aerospace systems. It is this mission that motivates the SDSU Rocket Project to build complex rockets at the forefront of collegiate engineering.
As of this year, Kármán San Diego, their ongoing project, is being designed virtually.
Kármán San Diego (KSD) is not competing in a traditional rocketry competition. Based on the Base 11 liquid-to-space challenge, Rocket Project set out to achieve a more attainable objective: reach space through two stages, utilizing a liquid booster stage and a solid sustainer second stage. We are currently seeing the booster stage of KSD, which is one of three steps that will help us reach space. After validating the first stage, the next two launches will be a mass simulator followed by a real space shot! If Kármán San Diego is successful, it will become the first rocket to reach space using a liquid rocket at the collegiate level.
The SDSU Rocket Project has a promotional video on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Si10u2-gs6Q?embedable=true
Waterloo Rocketry
Founded in 2009, Waterloo Rocketry is an engineering, science, and mathematics student design team at the University of Waterloo. They have around 50 members currently. Each June at Spaceport America, New Mexico, they build, launch, and design rockets to a target altitude of 30,000' for the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition.
The primary objective of the team is to provide students with a hands-on learning experience in all aspects of engineering design, including research, design, analysis, fabrication, and testing.
As a result of a long week at Spaceport America Cup (SAC) 2022, they are proud to have received awards from the SAC judges for some of our technical achievements. As well as winning the Jim Furfaro Award for Technical Excellence for their podium presentation on Reefing Recovery System Design and Characterization, they also won the SDL Payload Challenge for Most Professional Looking Payload!
Waterloo Rocketry published their Liquid Engine Static Fire on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/zRoR-EW0NYI?embedable=true
A new student-designed and researched liquid rocket engine was fired at Waterloo Rocketry’s new test site for the first time. Powered by ethanol and nitrous oxide, this engine is Waterloo Rocketry’s first step into developing liquid engines. Starting in 2022, it will power their rockets.
Waterloo Rocketry uses ANSYS simulation software to simulate the complex structural, vibrational, and thermal loads that our rocket components undergo during flight. As a result, we can quickly iterate through designs and develop lighter, more efficient parts.
For the engine section of their rocket, they utilized ANSYS thermal simulations and topology optimization features to design their 3D-printed Inconel rocket nozzle, “Ghost Pepper”. Compared with our previous graphite nozzle, it is significantly lighter and can handle exhaust gas at 2326°C.
They have published the Ghost Pepper Static Fire on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/pTEnzSuGnm4?embedable=true
Society for Advanced Rocket Propulsion (SARP UW)
At the University of Washington, the Society for Advanced Rocket Propulsion (SARP), students design and build rockets of the highest power. Their first liquid bi-propellant rocket, Pacific Impulse, is scheduled to be launched, and they plan to compete in the FAR Dollar Per Foot Challenge (DPF) with it. Previously, they had participated in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) hosted by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ERSA) with 95 other teams. In 2019, they placed first in the 30,000 feet category and won the Spaceport America Cup.
As of now, Pacific Impulse measures 8 inches in diameter and 20 feet tall. It weighs 160 pounds dry and 190 pounds wet. An average thrust of around 1200 lbf will be produced by the rocket’s O-class motor, which is fuelled by 75% ethanol/water, oxidized by nitrous oxide, and pressurized by helium.
Several components make up the thrust chamber assembly. These include an aluminium combustion chamber, pintle injector, phenolic pre-combuster, rocket candy igniter, and graphite conical nozzle.
The payload will consist of an autonomous drone that keeps in touch with and flies close to the descending rocket. The drone will contain a camera for collecting data throughout the flight.
They have published their Injector Trade Study on YouTube along with a hype video.
https://youtu.be/mzAkiICZiSE?embedable=true
https://youtu.be/eL33axvlka0?embedable=true
Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS)
In addition to building ultra-low-cost, open-source rockets, liquid-fuel rocket engines, and satellites, the Portland State Aerospace Society maintains all open-source technology development. In the aerospace industry, there are historically significant silos, creating highly protected proprietary technologies.
LV4 (Launch Vehicle 4) is their second rocket, which aims to win the Base 11 challenge. Upon reaching the edge of space, it would make history as the first liquid-fueled rocket built by a university.
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Based on their purpose, their engines are printed in aluminium, plastic, or steel procedurally using a Python script. The current version, which will produce 2.2kn and is 14,000 scale, has been printed in aluminium and “hot-fire” tests will begin soon. To reach their goals, LV4 will need a 6kn engine. The engine will be 3D printed out of stainless steel.
The philosophy of PSAS is that everyone is needed. There are engineers, mathematicians, chemists, and software developers, but they also have project managers, digital artists, and soon-to-be marketing experts on their team. It is a business-like organization, and anyone interested in helping the space industry is welcome to contribute. They have contributors from all over the state, and from every field of study.
They have published an orientation video on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Td8eZCaVhgw?embedable=true
Purdue Space Program
The mission of PSP is to empower students to innovate in space exploration, but their work goes beyond academics.
Boomie Zoomie is a student-designed and developed rocket from PSP Liquids. It is the first liquid-liquid rocket entirely designed by Purdue students to reach 45,000 feet and meet the requirements of the 2017–2019 FAR MARS Liquid Rocket Competition.
They have published a paper called Student Development of a Liquid Oxygen, Liquid Methane Sounding Rocket and Launch Infrastructure in an AIAA journal.
They also made many videos showcasing their progress over the years. Like the First-Ever Liquid Methane Rocket for Purdue Space Program.
https://youtu.be/4hCYp-smbEQ?embedable=true
And the Boomie Zoomie Hotfire 1.
https://youtu.be/NQEti3GFIXU?embedable=true
A methalox rocket with 900 lbf of thrust and 500 psi tank pressure, Boomie Zoomie B was designed and built by students at Purdue University, where SEDS (Students for Exploration and Development of Space) has the largest chapter in the country. In March 2022, they travelled to the Mojave desert and launched Boomie Zoomie B as part of the FAR-Mars competition. They recovered the rocket safely, recycled it, and launched it once again.
The Purdue Space Program manged to launch their liquid methane rocket twice in one weekend.
https://youtu.be/gIdVV04Bm6Y?embedable=true
What an amazing time to be a student. These clubs allow students to learn about a cutting-edge field of engineering. They are also providing a path for those interested in pursuing careers in aerospace engineering and other related fields. These programs are giving students around the world the chance to get hands-on experience in the field of space exploration. With the help of these programs, we may see the next generation of astronauts, engineers, and scientists who will take us even further into the cosmos.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we will explore other student rocket clubs from around the globe.
About The Author
I am a Data Scientist, an Amateur Rocket Scientist and an Indie Game Developer. During my free time, I work on Meco Rocket Simulator — A realistic physics-based game where you can design, build and test liquid propellant rocket engines.
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