An EPFL-designed rocket flies high in the United States
The team recovering RORO's pieces in the New Mexico desert after the flight. ©C.Baumann
RORO is a three-meter-long rocket that was designed and built by students from EPFL, ETH Zurich and the School of Management and Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD). They entered it into the Spaceport America Cup, which was held in June in the United States, and finished eighth out of over 100 teams.
It was a slightly crazy idea, but they pulled it off. In June, nearly a dozen students from EPFL, ETH Zurich and HEIG-VD made their way to the New Mexico desert to compete in the Spaceport America Cup. Team Duster, as they called themselves, was the only team from Europe, and they ended up finishing eighth out of 116. The competition, which is not widely known on this side of the Atlantic, welcomed teams from universities the world over. Their task was to design, build and launch a rocket capable of reaching an altitude of three kilometers.
The local students heard about the competition through the space technology minor offered by EPFL’s Space Engineering Center (eSpace). Intent on competing, they started working on the project at the end of 2016. After three months – and countless hours of elbow grease – they had created RORO. The three-meter-long rocket is based on a sophisticated design, which was necessary to meet the competition’s high technical and safety standards.
Team Duster in front of Spaceport America. From left to right: Stephane Teste, Michael Pellet, Moritz Zimmerman, Oliver Kirchhoff, Cyrill Baumann, Hassan Arif, Laurent Jung, Sorina Lupu, Patrick Spieler, Christian Cardinaux.
The students had to design every system on the rocket, which include propulsion, flight electronics, data recording and parachute deployment. They also needed to come up with a mission for their rocket that made use of a four-kilogram payload. The team decided RORO would carry and then release a glider when it reached its apogee.
A beautiful flight
Despite some ignition problems, the flight itself was flawless. The rocket climbed to 2,800 meters and released the glider, which flew as planned. The only hiccup came when the two parachutes got tangled, which meant a slightly faster descent. But the flight was only one part of the evaluation: “The panel of judges really liked the presentation we gave of our project,” says Sorina Lupu, the team leader.
This experience taught the students many things, including how to apply their skills in the real world, manage a team project and work with the competition organizers. As a result, another highly motivated team from EPFL is expected to compete in next year’s competition.
The team was supervised by Anton Ivanov from eSpace. Team members: Sorina Lupu, Patrick Spieler, Michael Spieler, Michaël Pellet, Stephane Testé, Moritz Zimmerman, Oliver Kirchhoff, Cyrill Baumann, Hassan Arif, Laurent Jung, Christian Cardinaux, Dalmir Hasic and Quentin Talon.
Support was provided by: eSpace, EPFL's Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, the Swiss Space Center, ETH Zurich's Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, RUAG, STA Travel, Obi, Mouser Electronics, Würth Electronics, Ceratizit, CSEM, Kuehne Nagel, Swiss Composites, and the Advanced Rocketry Group of Switzerland ARGOS.
All the rockets gathered before the competition starts...