After 10 months of designing, manufacturing, and assembling our competition rocket Nova Somnium, we were finally able to attend the Spaceport America Cup and launch as a 2nd year club! Thank you to all our sponsors (shown at the end of the video) for helping us make this happen.

Nova Somnium was 13.5 ft tall, 84 lb fully loaded and 59 lb after burnout, and reached an apogee of 21,319 ft on a Cessaroni O3400 motor, shy of the target apogee of 30,000 ft.

During the flight, the camera systems failed, so no onboard footage was captured. The avionics boards controlling the airbrakes were also affected by the G loading during acceleration. The precise cause is unknown, but at roughly 20,000 ft up one of the 3 symmetrical linearly actuating airbrakes failed open, creating a massive moment and causing the rocket change course into a nearly horizontal direction. As a result, apogee occurred at severe high speeds, and the drogue parachute was likely shredded immediately. The chaos tore apart the main deployment bag, preventing a lines first deployment and causing the rocket to ultimately hit the ground too hard to be flown again.

Thank you to Alana Havens and Ethan Reilly for the supporting footage, and thank you to Michael Keenan for letting us borrow his camera!

Though we did not have a perfectly successful flight, we learned a great deal and are excited to come back next year and put our new learning to the test.

I dedicate this video to Austin Kaiser, my friend and mentor. His impact on the club will be felt for many years to come and his commitment to passing on knowledge is a testament to his great character.

Song: Rocket Girl by Lemaitre

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