Aerospace (Feb 2015)

The Development of Rocketry Capability in New Zealand—World Record Rocket and First of Its Kind Rocketry Course

  • George Buchanan,
  • David Wright,
  • Christopher Hann,
  • Hoani Bryson,
  • Malcolm Snowdon,
  • Avinash Rao,
  • Adam Slee,
  • Hans Philipp Sültrop,
  • Bastian Jochle-Rings,
  • Zane Barker,
  • Abigail McKinstry,
  • Claude Meffan,
  • George Xian,
  • Ryan Mitchell,
  • XiaoQi Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace2010091
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 1
pp. 91 – 117

Abstract

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The University of Canterbury has developed a rocket research group, UC Rocketry, which recently broke the world altitude record for an I-class motor (impulse of 320–640 Ns) and has run a rocketry course for the first time in New Zealand. This paper discusses the development and results of the world record rocket “Milly” and details all the fundamental elements of the rocketry final year engineering course, including the manufacturing processes, wind tunnel testing, avionics, control and the final rocket launch of “Smokey”. The rockets Milly and Smokey are an example of the design, implementation and testing methodologies that have significantly contributed to research and graduates for New Zealand’s space program.

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