Status: Active
Mission Statement
The current goal of the Student Program for Unmanned Rocket Systems (SPURS) is to start up our rocketry program and obtain an L2 rocket certification for the lab to use larger rocket engines. The larger goal for the project is to create rocketry systems to collaborate with other lab projects and eventually compete in competitions with other rocketry teams at different universities.
Project Overview
SPURS is the lab’s foray into rocketry, combining the systems engineering experience the lab has through its many projects and passion for rocketry that many members of the lab have. The project was born out of inspiration from the REV-2 project as a way to conduct systems testing on the lab’s entry in the CanSat competition. The initial rockets built by the SPURS teams will function to achieve the L1 and L2 rocketry certifications. Getting these certifications open up more possibilities for the team in the future to design more complex systems and interface with other projects.
Currently, SPURS consists of three separate subteams: dynamics and propulsion (AERO/PROP), thermal mechanisms and structures (THRM/STRC), and electronic power systems and flight software (EPS/FSW). The subteams work together to integrate their individual subsystems and conduct a range of tests from computational analysis to environmental testing to prove the system is flight-ready.
SPURS’s L1 Rocket, Invictus, was a single chute system powered by an I class rocket which carried a sensor suite to capture data on the pressure, temperature, humidity, and altitude during flight. The rocket launch was successful, granting the lab its L1 certification. The L2 rocket will build on what was learned during the development of Invictus and help push SPURS to greater heights.
Project Conclusion
SPURS’s L2 Rocket (Name TBD) is expected to launch in April 2026 and successfully obtain an L2 Certification for the lab.