High Speed Experimental Rocket

LONGHORN ROCKETRY ASSOCIATION: FIRST IN-HOUSE PRODUCED NOSE CONE & FULL BODY CONSTRUCTION

I started working on this project in 2022 as the Longhorn Rocketry Association’s Nose Cone Development Lead with the responsibility of researching and testing the manufacturing of the organization’s first in-house nose cone to use on the rocket.

My responsibilities included working with the electronics lead to design the electronics bay that would be stored in the nose cone. We started off making 1:4 scale prototypes of the nose cone before manufacturing our first full scale prototype shown in the image on the right.

During my senior year, I took on the role of Launch Vehicle Lead and became the lead of the total project, taking over the manufacturing of all of the rocket’s components. This includes doing carbon fiber layups of the body tubes, refining the design of the electronics bay, and waterjet cutting all of the fins.

My team and I performed testing using an Instron Compression Testing Machine on a body tube sample to ensure it would be able to withstand compressive forces up to twice that of the max thrust of the motor which is 9,500N. The body tube we manufactured was able to withstand forces of up to 90,000N. This allowed us to decrease the thickness of our body tubes when making the final product, reducing our body tube weight by over 30% and improving the overall aerodynamics of the rocket.

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