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Design Specifications

The Project: Daedalus Sub-Orbital Hybrid Rocket Project aims to be the first independent, interdisciplinary collegiate program to reach sub-orbital flight. The primary focus is to attain sub-orbital flight, secondary goals are to develop a launch program that will present the University of Central Florida and other higher education institutions with sub-orbital research platform, allow undergraduate and graduate students a chance to develop real engineering skills in a large scale project, and to set a foundation for future higher altitude and possible orbital flights. These goals are challenging, but within the grasp of the Project: Daedalus program.

View our Intermediate Design Proposal: DOWNLOAD

More Information:
Propulsion, Mechanical Systems, Electrical, Ground Support

SolidWorks Model of Daedalus III

Team Divisions

The current team consists of about seventy UCF students of various engineering programs and varying levels of higher education. The project is divided into four divisions that focus on primary sections of the vehicle; within the divisions are sub-divisions of specific components. These teams have leads that are tasked with managing the overall division while delegating to the sub-divisions.

The divisions will work on researching, designing, fabricating, testing, and analyzing their specific components. Throughout the process various documents and materials will be looked over by the leads and reviewed for flight certification and procedural documentation. This is in order to develop program checklists, procedural guidebooks, and for review by launch facility administrative bodies. Final assembly will be tested in Florida for safety control purposes with a final systems check before disassembly and packaging. The vehicle will be launch for mission flight from an off-university site complex. The resulting flight of Daedalus III will allow for analysis and review in preparation for the sub-orbital flight of Daedalus IV.

The main propulsion of the vehicle will be a hybrid motor consisting of nitrous oxide and high density polyethylene. Hybrid motors are not common place in the world of sounding rocket; it will be ground breaking territory for Project: Daedalus.

The success of these initial program vehicles will allow for payload development for research purposes by University of Central Florida faculty and students. The Project: Daedalus program will have allowed students to create their own research vehicle, apply class room and laboratory, work within a larger interdisciplinary team, and learn skills, methods, and processes that are standard in the professional world of engineering.

Internal Component Assembly of Daedalus III

Daedalus II

The second in the series of Daedalus rockets was successfully launched in January 2006 in Argonia, Kansas.  Reaching an altitude of nearly 30,000 feet, this solid-fueled rocket served to verify our mathematical and modeling methods and test various electronics and communication systems. Originally designed as a booster for the Daedalus III, the rocket acted mainly as launch training for future rockets.

Click here to view more information on the Daedalus II rocket