High Powered Rocketry

Key Results

• Designed and built an L1-class high-powered rocket with dual-stage recovery, targeting 500–600m altitude under a strict two-month development timeline.  

• Used OpenRocket simulation to validate CG/CP stability margins prior to flight.  

• Conducted post-flight failure analysis after a recovery system malfunction, identifying root cause and informing design improvements for a subsequent redesign. 

Overview

This project involved designing, building, and flying a Level 1-certified high-powered rocket with a dual-stage recovery system, developed as part of Space Hardware Club's rocketry program under a strict two-month timeline.  

I served as Lead for Rocket Structure & Build, responsible for the vehicle's internal structure, stability analysis, and post-flight investigation. 

My Contributions

• Structural Design: Designed the internal structure — fins, motor mounts, parachute connection points, and electronics sled — in Autodesk Inventor, optimized for laser-cut fabrication from plywood.   

• Flight Simulation: Used OpenRocket to analyze CG/CP margins and simulate the flight profile with staged parachute deployment, validating stability prior to launch. 

• Failure Analysis: After a manufacturing defect prevented recovery deployment during flight, conducted post-flight failure analysis to identify root cause, informing design improvements incorporated into a subsequent CAD redesign.