The Rocket Design Team at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri is a completely student-led design team. Alexander Gore, the current CFO of the Rocket Design Team, provided the following.
Team Objective
“Our team objective stems from our motto: Launching a Legacy of passion and curiosity that propels students to the boundaries of air and space. We aim to create a community of leaders and innovators prepared for the challenges of the world ahead. The team is comprised of three different projects: Solid, Liquid, and Team Education.”
“On the Rocket Design Team, we use SECO7 37 Degree gaskets on our Liquid project, we place them on every fitting we can. Since we manufacture many of our own feed system components, getting them to seal properly can be an arduous task. The Seco Seals massively improve our system, allowing us to complete successful cold flows, test fires, and launches.”
Solid Project
“The long-term goal of the Solid project is to successfully launch and recover a Solid rocket from space. Solid has recently made large strides on in house composites, and this past year launched our first completely in house-built rocket Fortitude to around 40,000ft. The propulsion subgroup of the Solid project has also made massive progress, mixing and testing several propellant mixes completely in house. While they were not quite ready to fly a custom motor on Fortitude, they came incredibly close, and Solid should be ready to fly a completely in house designed and built rocket in May 2025, currently projected to reach an altitude of over 80,000ft, more than doubling the team’s current altitude record.”
Liquid Project
“The Liquid project shares the goal of a spaceshot. Over the past several years, Liquid has test fired several smaller scale test engines. The first being the Oberth igniter during the 20-21 school year. This was a gaseous oxygen/methane igniter and was the first test fire Liquid ever conducted. It was a proof of the team’s safety and design procedures and processes and was not intended to make much thrust. After Oberth, the team spent the 21-22 and 22-23 school years designing, building and test firing the Typhon engine. This was still a relatively small scale engine, only producing about 25 lbs of thrust, but was still an immense achievement for the team. Liquid conducted 4 successful tests, experimenting with instrumentation, ignition methods, ablative materials, and nozzle geometry. After Typhon, Liquid changed gears into full scale rocketry with Dauntless, a liquid Nitrous/Ethanol rocket which was over 14 foot tall, with a simulated altitude of approximately 20,000 feet. While the attempted launch in spring 2024 was unsuccessful, the team has since discovered and solved the issue, and is hoping for an inaugural Liquid launch of a Dauntless derivative in the spring of 2025.”
Team Education Project
“The Team Education project aims to recruit and educate new members on the functions of the team, and amateur rocketry in general. Team Education is split into 3 smaller projects: the Level 1 program, Rockets & You, and Argonia Cup.”
Level 1 Program
“Level 1 guides new members on building and launching a rocket in compliance with the Tripoli Rocketry Association Level 1 certification guidelines, helping the team establish basic knowledge in rocketry in all members.”
Rockets & You
“Rockets & You is a series of presentations given to new members, educating them on the basics of rocketry, as well as the different parts of the team.”
Argonia Cup
“The final element of Team Education is the Argonia Cup … competition in Argonia, Kansas, and is almost completely new member designed and built. This gives new members experience in designing and building a high-powered rocket, while also giving them hands on launch experience, which helps them in their careers on the team.”
