The ESRA team at Oregon State University fabricated and launched a student research and developed (SRAD) solid-propellant rocket to 30,000 feet at the 2022 Spaceport America (SA) Cup. The SA Cup is the largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition in the world.
Four teams were created to achieve this goal, Avionics and Recovery, Payload, Propulsion, and Structures and Aerodynamics. The propulsion system of the rocket consists of a 60-inch long O-class solid motor mainly made of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, aluminum fuel, and ammonium perchlorate oxidizer. The payload team developed the ‘FarmBot’, an 8.8 lb robot packed into a 3-unit CubeSat designed to be ejected from the rocket at an altitude of 1,500 ft with a separate recovery system. The goal being to autonomously disperse seeds and water upon landing. The payload competed in the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) Payload Challenge.
The full-scale rocket consisted of a 6.35” airframe, fiberglass bulkheads, carbon fiber fin layup, a filament-wound carbon fiber lower body tube weaved into reinforced fiberglass, a fiberglass upper body tube, and a bulkhead made of pre-impregnated fiberglass sheets, which contained the avionics bay responsible for tracking the rocket’s position. A full-scale test launch was performed in Brothers (OR) where the rocket reached our target altitude and was successfully recovered.
The OSU ESRA team placed 2nd in the ‘30k Solid SRAD’ category and 14th overall among approximately 100 teams.