IREC Rocket Design & Fabrication
A sounding rocket project focused on stability analysis, mass distribution, OpenRocket/MATLAB modeling, and hands-on flight-hardware fabrication.
Overview
This project connected launch vehicle analysis with physical fabrication for a competitive sounding rocket build cycle.
Problem & Approach
The rocket required careful control of stability margin and mass distribution across payload, recovery, and motor configurations. The approach combined OpenRocket simulation, MATLAB analysis, and fabrication checks.
System Architecture
The vehicle system included the nose cone, airframe, motor configuration, recovery system, payload considerations, and stability relationship between center of gravity and center of pressure.
My Role
- Estimated center of gravity and center of pressure across configurations.
- Simulated apogee sensitivity to mass distribution changes.
- Supported MATLAB and OpenRocket analysis.
- Fabricated and assembled hardware including nose cone and airframe components.
Evidence
Evidence includes simulation outputs, stability calculations, fabricated hardware, and build documentation. Images and plots will be added after artifact selection.
Outcome
The project supported a competition-ready build path by connecting simulated stability requirements with manufactured hardware.
Limitations
This page should not claim full vehicle ownership or flight performance beyond documented analysis and fabrication contributions.
Next Step
Next steps include adding OpenRocket plots, MATLAB outputs, airframe photos, and a concise table of stability assumptions.