Rocket Laboratory

The USC Rocket Propulsion Lab is a group of largely undergraduate students ardently focused on pushing the state-of-the-art in rocket propulsion technology.  Armed with determination and the goal of putting a scratch-built rocket into space, the students associated with this group spend their free time designing, building, and testing experimental rocketry and propulsion hardware both in the lab and at their Mojave test and launch site.

Flight #3 was successful, with apogee at 18,461 feet and max velocity over Mach 1.

Since the group’s beginning in late 2005, the Rocket Propulsion Lab has produced some impressive results.  Starting with an empty room and a generous grant from the engineering dean’s office, the group got to work building the tools and infrastructure necessary to get the job done.  Since its inception the group has successfully completed two launches of their first vehicle, “Del Carbon.”  The 12 foot tall, six-inch diameter rocket features an all-composite, fully scratch-built airframe and propulsion system.  On its most recent flight, the rocket attained an altitude of 21,600 feet after flying at 1,700 feet per second, well past the speed of sound, before gently settling back to Earth under a parachute.

With the advisement of Dr. Daniel Erwin, the RPL operates under the USC Viterbi School’s Astronautics and Space Technology Division. The students involved also span most majors as the project requires attention from almost every discipline.  Passionate students from the astronautics, aerospace, mechanical, electrical, industrial systems, and material science departments all contribute to the project and work to meet its unique set of obstacles.

As the project moves forward, the group plans to focus energy on development of hybrid rocket propulsion systems.  This unique technology allows the Rocket Propulsion Lab to push the systems’ performance above that of most amateur and university propulsion projects while producing simple, safe, and environmentally-friendly rocket systems.  Hybrid technologies have received attention in the professional propulsion community since the early 1980’s but have seldom seen successful integration into flight hardware.  The USC Rocket Propulsion Lab feels that this technology does indeed have a place in modern space systems and is set to prove its viability.

The first (and fully successful) lunch of the rocket built by students in the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory of the Astronautics and Space Technology Division at USC took place in Mohave desert on October 12, 2006.  The rocket, called Del Carbon, was powered by PPL N3450 motor of 18,000 Nsec thrust. It reached apogee at 21,651 feet and was fully recovered. The launch took place fully recovered.