STRUCTURES

The Structures team makes everything that you can see on the rocket, including the airframes, nose cone, fins, and couplers that link everything together. Structures designs these systems for integration and runs structural analysis on all of the parts to ensure their integrity. Structures manufactures most components out of composites, such as carbon fiber, to reduce weight while retaining strength. Aluminum is machined to create high-strength couplers that hold the rocket together and provide mounting points for recovery and avionics equipment. Additionally, Structures runs flight simulations and calculates the optimal geometry and location of our fins to maximize stability, while minimizing drag and weight. Structures also includes the recovery system, which includes two parachutes, two pyrotechnic devices that deploy the parachutes, and the electronics that signal the pyrotechnics. If you want to learn about analysis or manufacturing with composites and metal materials, structures might be the team for you!

PROPULSION

The team that makes the rocket go! We will be testing 2019 Liquid Bi-Prop Rocket: Pacific Impulse! This rocket produces (in theory...) 1200 lbf of thrust using saturated liquid nitrous and liquid ethanol. We'll also be researching and developing our next generation engines which have features such as regeneratively cooled channels, co-axial swirl injectors, and black powder ignition! Our endgoal is to provide a 4500 lbf engine for our next rocket, Stargazer. This team is for those interested in hands-on testing, intermittent manufacturing, and getting down and dirty with the textbooks. Projects here also heavily rely on CAD, structural analysis programs, and basic coding in Python (Babies First Code).

AVIONICS

The Avionics Team is responsible for all of the software and electronics on and off the rocket. Avionics offers unique electronics and programming integration tasks, with projects such as building remote systems for filling and igniting the rocket, developing sensor suites to collect flight data, extending our onboard communications network and in-flight telemetry systems, and building automated testbed infrastructure. This year Avionics will also be developing a system to substitute our conventional parachute with a parafoil for autonomously guided controlled descent. Once the rocket is assembled and on the rail, it’s the Avionics' job to execute propellant fill, launch, safe landing, and recovery!

PAYLOAD

RCS is a new team to SARP. Previously SARP had a payload subteam that would design a new payload every year. Moving towards space is a goal that SARP has dedicated all resources to, part of this is changing the payload team into a team that would help get our rocket to space.

The Reaction Control System is an arrangement of cold gas thrusters used to supply corrective impulses to our rocket. As our rocket ascends in altitude, the fins used to stabilize the rocket will lose their effectiveness. To support it in place of fins, we’ll use outward-facing cold gas thrusters. A strong combination of controls, electronics, fluids, and mechanical engineering, RCS is an integral part of SARP’s journey to space. This team is an ideal spot for those who want to push themselves to make something that hasn’t been achieved by a collegiate team before, those who want to do a little bit of everything, and those who want to rapidly learn and apply skills.

SOLIDS

The Solids Team is used to teach high-powered rocketry to incoming members and serve as a “testbed” for SARP’s more advanced and experimental projects. This year, Solids will be working with two rockets. Pocket Rocket, which will have its first flight this year, is a level 3 rocket designed to fly to 7,000 ft at Mach 0.7, to test our recovery and RCS flight control systems. The second, Short King, will be a competition rocket to be entered into the IREC competition in Summer of 2024. Flying at just under Mach 1, and reaching an altitude of 10,000ft, it will pave the way for SARP’s higher and faster flying rockets as we work towards the ultimate goal of space.

This team will be a great way to develop early engineering skills such as 3D modeling, an engineering mindset, and some more advanced rocket calculations. Being a brand new team, Solids will give you an opportunity to take ownership of your own project and expand the capabilities of SARP!

MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing facilitates the physical implementation of the parts designed by each subteam through a series of software and machine shop trainings. Some of the Manufacturing team’s responsibilities include approving finalized engineering drawings, assisting design subteams in the production of their test articles and flight hardware, as well as tackling the more complex machining tasks with advanced manufacturing techniques.

BUSINESS

Love the idea of building a rocket, but daunted by the engineering behind it? Or maybe you’re an engineer who wants to dip their toes into the business side of things? Behind every excellent engineering project is an equally elite business team. The management of finances, procurement, marketing, and promotion are just as important as assembling the rocket itself. On the business team, we’ll be managing the master budget for our fundraising campaign, shooting promo and build videos, and coordinating outreach between our sponsors, families, and supporters. Important administrative steps are planned this year to give SARP more autonomy as an independent RSO, and plenty of opportunities to showcase your design and videography skills will be available as we step up our visibility on campus. As a member of the business team, you’ll get the chance to learn how to gain sponsors, produce content for social media, plan events, and do all the behind the scenes work that turns our rocket from sketches on paper to an engineering marvel at 30,000 feet in the air.