Rocketry High Power Team 2023

Solitude: 2023 Champion

The 2023 BYU Rocketry High Power team won the Modeling and Simulation Award, 1st Place in the 10k COTS category, and 1st Place overall in the 2023 Spaceport America Cup. See media coverage and launch videos below.

As a payload engineer on the team, I designed, analyzed, and manufactured the payload structure and payload bay section of the rocket for a novel radial ejection technique. The rocket and payload flew perfectly and had a successful recovery.

The Rocket

Solitude is a 12ft tall, 71lb rocket that competed in the 2023 Spaceport America Cup. It's award winning flight to 9,938ft earned 1st place. Our rocket competed in the 10k COTS (Commercial-off-the-Shelf) rocket motor category against 150+ other teams from around the world. The rocket featured a radially ejected payload, an adjustable ballast system, and a live telemetry communications system.

The Payload

Using a modified cube sat design, the payload was a 4kg aluminum structure housing temperature measurement and recording equipment. The payload's mission was to demonstrate a new method of ejection during rocket descent and to collect exterior radiative temperatures in an attempt to demonstrate the "Night Sky Effect"

Radial Ejection

Typical payload ejection for high power rocketry involves axial release, either through gas cylinder or black powder charge expulsion. We wanted to explore a new method.

Ejecting radially required a payload structure strong enough to withstand the lateral forces associated with ejection. I designed a large cylinder block to house the explosive black powder charge to eject the payload. As we were limited on physical space, we chose to have the piston in the structure of the rocket body, and the cylinder in the payload itself. The payload was secured on the top and bottom on linear rails. Extreme care had to be taken in manufacturing to ensure everything was aligned properly. The result was a great success and a new method of ejection that can be utilized by future teams.

Results and Media Coverage

Charles Hoult Award for Modeling and Simulation

Awarded to the team with the best podium session on modeling and simulation. Riley Brown presented on the team's work on fin flutter analysis using Laser Vibrometry.