Hoboken College Students Building World's Cheapest Space Rocket
HOBOKEN, NJ — About $200,000, a ton of hard work and a little luck. That’s what a group of college students hope it will take to get the world’s cheapest rocket to outer space.
An eight-person team of engineering and computer science students at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken recently embarked on a mission to build a rocket capable of traveling past the Karman Line, an imaginary border 100 kilometers from the Earth that’s considered to be the boundary between the planet’s atmosphere and outer space.
But it’s not enough to simply reach for the stars… they’re trying to do it with comparative pocket change.
So far, the team has raised nearly $120,000 of their $200,000 goal. The money will cover the cost of materials ($100,000) and research and development ($100,000), according to the university. At a mere $100,000, the rocket would be the “most affordable to ever reach space,” Stevens Institute stated.
Here’s why the team launched their frugally ambitious endeavor, according to their website:
“Our mission is simple. Be the first collegiate team to reach the Karman Line. With the rapid development of the commercial spaceflight industry there is an increasing demand for low-cost suborbital and low altitude orbital launches. Companies are seeking reliable ways to launch small payloads for microgravity and orbital testing. Our team intends to develop a small launch vehicle to capitalize on the demand for small payload launches.”
Currently, the team is moving forward with the construction and testing of a 15-foot carbon fiber and aluminum rocket capable of sending an eight-kilogram payload into space. (See a schematic drawing here)
The proposed rocket will include a 3D-printed Inconel-718 engine and injector that are fully designed by the students, as well as a pressure-fed propulsion system. The rocket is also designed to be fully recoverable through a drogue-chute and parachute system that should allow a “relatively safe descent to earth.”
The idea of sending rockets to space on the cheap has already attracted sponsorship support from “some of the biggest names in the aeronautics industry,” the students said, including Aerojet Rocketdyne, A&P Technology, Gosco Valves, L3 Technologies, Northrop Grumman, NovAtel and Triton Space Technologies.
The Castle Point Rocketry team – Monica Traupmann, Nathan Tahbaz, Abraham Edens, Thomas Flaherty, Faris Ibrahim, Benjamin Iofel, William Skwirut and Dakota Van Deursen – has some competition, as they’re one of several collegiate squads vying to reach space on the cheap.
But the drive to make space accessible to everyone – not only the Elon Musks of the world – is pushing them on, the students reported.
“We’re all passionate about spaceflight and believe that the future of accessible space travel is within reach,” Monica Traupmann said. “By leveraging existing technologies to drive down production costs and simplify construction, we can show that space is attainable to universities on a rapid and affordable platform.”
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Photo: YouTube / Stevens Office of Alumni Engagement