This page serves as a collection and record for our official club launches. We share all data collected from our altimeters and payloads, made available for others to explore, analyze, and build upon in their own projects.
Jackpot 4 – 4/24/26
This was our 2025-2026 competition launch for NASA Student Launch. We were the 3rd rocket in the second volley. Our target apogee was 4600 ft and we hit 4606 ft, winning the altitude award. Our flight performed well with recovery working nominally.
Upon landing, our payload successfully ejected ZOMBIE from GrAVE. Then, ZOMBIE self-righted and started drilling. Unfortunately it had ejected on a rock which propped it up and only allowed it to collect minor amounts of soil.
After launch cancellations the previous week, the team traveled to VAST in Monterey, Virginia for a critical requalification flight. Following issues on March 14th, several design updates were made, requiring a new Vehicle Demonstration Flight. This launch also aimed to validate the payload, with success defined as the Grave latch retaining Zombie during flight and releasing it after landing.
Important changes included stronger shear pins, retuned ejection charges, and replacing a damaged parachute with a SkyAngle Cert3 XL. Assembly went smoothly overall, with only minor fixes needed. During the first time going up to the pad. an issue with the Grave Latch appeared, but was resolved with a quick code patch after testing.
The flight was went well with Airbrakes deploying after burnout and retracting after about 2.9 seconds, reducing apogee by roughly 1000 ft. Recovery events triggered correctly, but the main parachute deployed with tangled lines, preventing full inflation and causing a higher-than-allowed landing energy. As a result, the flight did not meet VDF requirements.
The payload performed as intended and successfully met all PDF criteria. This was the final available launch before the milestone deadline.
This was Jackpot’s second flight. Payload successfully collected data from both Grave and Zombie during the flight. This flight also marked the first use of FIRM v1.0 and Airbender v0.2, along with an added proto-board to properly drive the 82 kg-cm servo. The airbrakes were not internally sealed, resulting in a significant pressure spike upon deployment. Additionally, improperly filed fin slots caused the airbrakes to briefly catch at partial deployment before fully extending. FIRM’s data quality was still limited, leading to an overestimated apogee prediction and causing the airbrakes to remain deployed for the duration of the flight. The main parachute also deployed at apogee.
This was our first fullscale flight for 2025-2026. The team arrived early with the goal of flying twice, but weather and field constraints played a big role. Due to low overcast clouds, the flight ceiling was reduced from 17,500 ft to 4000 ft, so the rail was set to a 20° angle to stay within limits. The rocket was protected from the drizzle during prep, and all systems checked out on the pad aside from a brief payload SSH connection issue caused by interference from the rail.
This was the first flight to use FIRM as the sole INS for the airbrakes. FIRM did not give very high quality data as its custom Kalman filter had not yet been fully tuned, leading to poor apogee predictions. In flight, the airbrakes deployed almost immediately during coast, but failed to retract when they were supposed to (about 0.4 seconds after they deployed) due to the servo stalling.
The flight path ended up heavily angled due to the rail angle and ~11.5 mph winds, resulting in a lower-than-expected apogee. Additionally, neither ejection charges on the Fluctus fired due to a firmware issue, but the EasyMini worked as expected.
Despite these challenges, the flight met all requirements and was officially accepted as a successful Vehicle Demonstration Flight after FRR review.
This was our second subscale launch, focused on testing our custom apogee prediction algorithm, HPRM, along with a rewrite of the airbrakes code to use free threading. The goal was to actively control the flight to hit a target apogee of 2650 ft, but the rocket undershot, reaching 2385 ft, so airbrakes never deployed.
This flight also tested updated recovery systems, including a new nose cone shock cord retention setup epoxied to the carbon guide rail. The plan was to fly twice, first using the LORD IMU for airbrake control and then using FIRM, but several issues limited us to a single launch. During pre-flight checks, a hairline crack was found in the motor’s phenolic insulator, requiring a replacement motor to be purchased on-site. At the pad, the onboard camera failed to connect, so the flight proceeded without video. Due to time constraints, a second launch was not possible. Additionally, it was exceptionally windy and cold.
This was our first subscale flight for 2025-2026 and it was designed and manufactured entirely in-house, including a custom 4” airframe and all major structural components. It tested a redesigned airbrakes system set to deploy immediately at the start of coast to see how much altitude it could take off, and marked the first integration of FIRM in both the airbrake system and nose cone.
At the field, two airbrakes fins were dremeled halfway through their 6 mm thickness due to the motor casing being longer than expected. During the flight, the fincan descended above the drogue parachute during descent due to the high coefficient of drag of the fincan and low weight of the in-house manufactured composites.
Despite these issues, the launch was ultimately a success. The airbrakes effectively reduced apogee from a simulated ~1850 ft to approximately 1600 ft, closely matching the target. Both FIRM units operated as expected and collected valuable flight data. The rocket landed near the launch site, allowing for quick recovery.
