Building upon UMSATS’ years of success and experience building satellites expanded in 2018 with the formation of a rocketry division. Initially our goal is aimed towards competing in the 2019 Spaceport America Cup in June. Rocketry provides its members with a new set of challenges and opportunities that was previously unavailable to them.
The team is composed of the following subsystems:
Propulsion:
The propulsion system is responsible for providing the impulse necessary to reach the intended height to deploy our payload by carefully selecting the appropriate propellant for the mission through thermodynamic calculations. Other activities include nozzle development and static testing as well as research and development.
Avionics:
The avionics system is responsible for gathering telemetry data and controlling staging events during the course of flight such as ignition, parachute deployment, or payload activation.
Airframe:
The airframe is the structure that houses all of the subsystems, providing aerodynamic stability as well as protection for components subjected to other forces during flight while using the lightest and most durable materials possible to maximize thrust force.
Recovery:
The recovery system is responsible for safely landing the rocket back on the ground by deploying a multi-parachute system at precisely the right moments during its descent.
Payload:
The payload team develops meaningful scientific experiments that can be incorporated into our sounding rocket, involving collaboration across various disciplines as necessary.
