• Status: In Progress

• Tank Size: 4" x 48"

• Thrust: 800+ lbf

• Target Impulse: 12kNs

• Target Apogee: 30,000ft.

• Est. Launch Date: Q1 2026

• Special Thanks: Charles Sharp of Impulse Space, Austin Sennott of Anduril, Julian Rice of the University of Southern California, and Walter Lohmueller

When I'm not launching a high-power rocket or working on propulsion at Sun Devil Rocketry, I enjoy working on propulsion systems of my own.  Getting full free reign over requirements, goals, and points of focus, is a liberating feeling not often found in liquid propulsion, but I am lucky to live in a world where liquid personal projects are attainable and somewhat readily achieved.

In early 2024, during a lull in work, I sat down for a week and designed a liquid rocket.  The rocket is to be a high-thrust, short-burn, medium-altitude rocket, achievable and operable by a single person.  The simple architecture, popularized by Half Cat Rocketry, Julian Rice, and Walter Lohmueller, uses the vapor pressure of the nitrous oxide oxidizer held at saturation, to pressurize a piston, which pressurizes the IPA fuel tank.  A single ball valve on each propellant main feed line isolate propellants from the combustion chamber.  The engine uses a solid isomolded graphite nozzle, coaxial shear injector, and phenolic ablative liner, to generate ~800lbf of thrust on a ~4s burn time.

Work on this project is sporadic, and mostly done in between my other projects, internships, and schoolwork.  However, I intend on static firing the rocket by the end of 2025 and executing a launch in early 2026.