The Spaceport America Cup 10k Competition is an event where students design, build, test, and launch a 10-foot sounding rocket to fly to 10,000 feet. Judges score teams based on how close their rockets are to the 10,000 ft. apogee target in addition to how well the rocket was designed and constructed. The rocket is also required to carry a payload of scientific significance that weighs at least 8.8 pounds. Last summer at the 2019 Spaceport America Cup, the 10k rocket placed first in the Student Researched and Developed (SRAD) category with an apogee of 10,109 ft. and placed second overall out of 130 teams.
Given the achievement of last year’s team, the 10k Ohio State rocketeers have big shoes to fill. This year, the 10k project will build on the success of previous years to develop technically challenging projects to fly aboard the rocket.
- The structures team will be developing embedded sensors to be placed throughout the rocket to measure temperature as well as the stress on the rocket.
- To complement this, the Avionics team will be developing and establishing CAN bus protocol to improve device internal connectivity. The Avionics team will also be improving the on-board camera system for better in-flight footage.
- The Recovery team is developing a C02 ejection system – a technology critical for high altitude launches. This system will be used in the future on the High-Altitude Project rocket.
- The Payload team will be working with our Outreach chair to partner with local high school students to develop 1U cubesat payloads. This interdisciplinary project allows BSLI members to give back to the community while developing their engineering skills. There will also be an undetermined “Special Project” aboard the rocket this year as well.
- Finally, the ADS subteam is developing an embedded system aboard the rocket that controls apogee. Team members will be developing a hardware-in-the-loop simulation to test software without requiring a launch as well as be testing the ADS’ drag characteristics in a wind tunnel.
With all of these improvements across the entire team, the 10k project looks to fly a rocket that is more accurate and technologically advanced than ever before in team history.
