The High Altitude Liquid Engine (HALE) rocketry team is one of eight teams in the Oregon State University’s American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) chapter. HALE is competing in the Base 11 challenge, where the final goal is to design, build, and launch a single-stage liquid bipropellant rocket to the Von Kármán line at 328,000 ft. To achieve this goal, each of HALE’s six sub teams – Aerodynamics and Recovery, Avionics, Fluids, Structures, Vertical Test Stand, and Propulsion – are working across disciplines to prepare for the launch.
The sub teams are composed of senior students completing their senior design projects as well as other undergraduate students who volunteer their time outside of class. During this year’s period of performance, the team has successfully completed the first hot fire of HALE’s second-generation engine, Mira 2, begun the carbon fiber and fiberglass layup of the vehicle’s nose cone, manufactured all interior structural members of the vehicle, developed two identical and redundant flight computers, laid the cabling of our mobile launch pad’s instrumentation, and finished the assembly of the vehicle’s fluid system.
While HALE did not launch during this period, the team completed significant work. HALE has provided impactful and hands-on rocketry experience to its members with the materials and components purchased with OSGC funding. HALE is, and will continue to be, a collaborative and determined team that enables all members to strengthen their aerospace knowledge to contribute to the next generation of engineers.