Students and Alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are designing and building a sub-orbital rocket which they hope to launch to an altitude of 200 Km (over 120 miles). If achieved, the altitude would be a world record for an amateur rocket group. The current record is approximately 25 miles.

The group is a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and alumni of MIT. While three of the team members are working nearly full time on the rocket, the rest volunteer their spare time while juggling otherwise busy academic careers. In all, some fifty students have been involved in the project, with active membership typically 12-20 students at any given time.

The MIT team is competing for the Cheap Access To Space (CATS) prize, offered by the Foundation for International Non-governmental Development of Space and the Space Frontier Foundation. The prize will be awarded to the first group to launch a 2 Kg aluminum cylinder to 200 Km altitude without government funding. This prize provides incentive for the group to launch by November 8, 2000 (when the prize expires), but the team expects to launch their rocket with or without a prize.

The vehicle is a liquid fueled rocket - powered by a mix of kerosene and liquid oxygen. When complete, it will stand approximately 14 feet tall, and be 8 inches in diameter. Launch weight will be 200 lbs. The rocket structure is made of a light-weight carbon fiber composite, while the engine is primarily made of aluminum, stainless steel and a silica-phenolic composite material. The patent pending engine design is new, conceived by team leader Carl Dietrich (MIT '99) in the fall of 1998.

While high-tech compared to most amateur rockets, the MIT group's vehicle is simple compared to most vehicles designed to reach such high altitudes. The engine design reduces the complexity of both the engine and structure compared to government and commercial designs for liquid-fueled launch vehicles. If successful, the technology could lead the way to cheaper, simpler commercial space launch vehicles. Recently, team members traveled to the launch/test facility at Wallops Island, VA to meet with NASA engineers and administrators, and representatives of the Virginia Spaceport Authority. Soon they will begin the design and safety review process with NASA, a stepping stone to a launch license from the FAA and approval to launch at Wallops.

Additionally, the MIT Rocket Team has almost completed their engine test facility in New Hampshire. This facility will allow them to test the new rocket engine technology with its intended fuel mix. Laboratory experiments with inert Liquid Nitrogen have demonstrated the feasibility of the most critical part of the engine, but for a successful launch, a series of hot-fire engine tests will be required.

While more conventional than the engine, the rocket's structure is also being designed by the MIT team. It borrows from sources as varied as model rocketry and the Titan ballistic missile. In November of 1999, the group tested a mockup of the rocket in MIT's Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel, confirming analytical predictions of drag and stability. Computer simulations of the rocket's flight, developed by the team and tested against commercially available simulations, are critical to the design of the rocket.

The ultimate test, though, is the actual launch of the MIT Rocket, planned for the fall of 2000. The cost and size of the rocket prohibit incremental testing of flight vehicles, and so the team is applying the engineering and design skills they learn at MIT to ensure that the first full launch of the rocket is safe and successful.

Quotes:

"Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself - this is real rocket science, we're really going to launch into space."
-Edmund Golaski (MIT '99) graduate student in mechanical engineering at MIT.

"This is an exciting project because I have always been interested in rockets, and the technology we are developing has the real possibility to lower launch costs for everyone."
-Andrew Heafitz (MIT `91) graduate student in mechanical engineering at MIT.

"I think that the best part of this project is that it motivates students to learn and gain useful experiences in a way they won’t encounter inside a normal classroom."
-Carl Dietrich (MIT `99) graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

Contact Information:

Carl Dietrich
Phone: 617-452-2084
Email: chipd@mit.edu