Due to low ethanol/H2O fuel combustion temps and production difficulties we're facing with a conical, regen cooled nozzle in a BPM100 size engine, we're trying a different nozzle design. Is it the 1st Aerospike Propelled Rocket Intended to Launch by a crowdfunded organization?
Making the first drogue prototype for the booster is tedious work. tests will confirm details, but It will take 3 drogue parachutes of about 3m^2 to bring the booster to a speed where the main parachutes can be deployed.
If you've ever spun on an office chair, even slowly, for a longer period of time, you likely know it gets uncomfortable quite fast. This can happen in multiple axes during asymmetrical capsule separation. Our Reaction Control System will stop our astronaut getting dizzy in space.
Crewed, crowdfunded rocketry is a hot topic these days. Here are some of the items that have come a little too close to the heat during testing. 🔥🔥🔥Do you know why we used a hair dryer?
Those, whose answers were around LOX valves were correct! We really wanted to make sure that valve operates when it should, but on a budget:
New Video! We talk more about our 3D printed fuel injectors for our monster BPM100 engine and compare their mass flow to their machined counterparts. Enjoy! 🚀And thanks @DJSnM for letting us use one of your graphics!bit.ly/3cjo1eP
B-roll of our latest video (bit.ly/3cjo1eP ) included a BPM-5 engine that tested different fuel mixtures - 75% ethanol to 92.5% (w/ & w/o 1% TEOS). Here's the exhaust color of the different mixes. Should Spica fly Red or Blue?🚀Old TEOS blog: https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/a-few-μm-of-sio2-please/
It's not until the suspension lines are added that it starts looking like a parachute. This is the 1st drogue prototype for our Spica booster.Our plan is landing the booster gently for re-use, saving time & crowdfunder money. Video on how it's finished: bit.ly/3blYEt2
With the rocketshop being only open to single individuals at a given time during the pandemic, one of the things we manged to finish during the period is welding bulkhead tubing for Spica propellant tanks. Once the quarantine is over we should be able to weld them onto the tanks!
The Spica booster drogue prototype is finished, and has been packed for its first simple drop test. We can't wait to see it out in the fresh air! 🌞
Half way through cutting all the ribbons for a ribbon hemisflo drogue parachute prototype. Each set has to be cut at different lengths and angles on the ends to give the drogue the right shape.27 ribbons on 12 gores = a very tired CS-member...
Last Sunday John trimmed a few details on the anti-vortex baffles and welded them onto the two end-caps, which are going to make up the bottom of Spica's propellant tanks. This is a crucial element preventing pressurization gas ingestion into engine feed lines close to MECO. 🚀
We finally got a chance to test the Supersonic X drogue design this weekend. Or, the onion, as we now call it.This is a candidate for bringing down the speed of the booster before opening the main parachutes, so that we can make the booster reusable.Human skydive is next 🤗
In this video we talk about hemisflo and conical ribbon parachute designs and their challenges for our upcoming Spica rocket booster recovery. We want Spica to be a reusable rocket to increase our flight frequency and reduce production costs. If you find parachutes and rockets interesting, you can also visit Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering who are always helpful when we need parachute testing: https://dare.tudelft.nl/
As another candidate for helping to reuse the Spica booster, 324 individual ribbons have been sewn onto their center ribbon for this first hemisflo ribbon drogue parachute prototype. The center ribbon is 108 cm. Our recent video on the hemisflo design:bit.ly/2Z9E2Rz
