Fleet

STAR's entire fleet of rockets with a description, notable facts, and current status

Disclaimer: These notes should be verified and compiled into a more permanent document, maybe a spreadsheet. This information is routinely lost to the sands of time each time we compile it..

Ursa Minor

• 4” diameter

• Some reference dimensions exist on GitBook

• NASA Student Launch 2016-2017 Sub-Scale

• Blue Tube airframe material

Ursa Major

• 6” diameter

• 75mm motor mount

• Single-side dual deploy with independently recovered payload section

• ORK exists, reference dimensions appear to match manual measurements.

• NASA Student Launch 2016-2017 Full-Scale (competition vehicle)

• Blue Tube airframe material

Sub-Arktos

• Single-side dual deploy

• Blue Tube airframe material

• 2.6” booster, 4” upper section

• Fiberglassed printed 2.6” -> 4” transition

• Flown 2019-04-20 successfully

• ORK exists and is generally known to be correct.

• NASA SL 2017-2018 Sub-Scale

Arktos

• 54mm motor mount, functional 4” booster

• Blue Tube airframe material

• 4” booster, 6” upper section

• No undamaged 4” -> 6” printed transition parts in stock

• ORK exists and is generally known to be correct.

• Have had several anomalies with this design and no successful launches with recovery

• NASA SL 2017-2018 Full-Scale

Spectre

• Design only, never made it to build phase

• Overly ambitious two-stage COTS solid + SRAD liquid engine with complex stage separation mechanism

• Started design for IREC 2017-2018, entered in IREC 2018-2019, did not participate (instead launched Sub-Arktos again that year). Project permanently canceled while liquid engine tech is matured.

AirBears

• 4” diameter

• 75mm motor mount

• Damage to booster tube: 6” long tear from shear pin, probably

• Functional upper section

• ORK exists and is definitely correct

• Flown twice

• Test vehicle; flown with payloads and intended to fly with CAS, rip CAS

• Less documentation than competition vehicles as focus was on rapid development

Bear Force One

• 6” diameter

• 98mm motor mount

• Fiberglass airframe material

• Completely undamaged except its nose cone tip needs epoxy

• The payload tube has DAVE ejection hardware epoxied in it

• ORK exists and is definitely correct

• IREC 2019-2020 entry, postponed to 2020-2021

• Flew completely successfully (except for the IRIS/Muons payload and the MFC payload)

• Only rocket to have onboard cameras

• Reached 10,128ft flying on an Aerotech M2500 motor

• Intended to refly as the test vehicle for DAVE, rip DAVE

Pinkbeary

• 5.5” diameter

• The club’s first two stage rocket, intended as test vehicle for staging

• 75mm motor mount with K1000 staging to 54mm motor mount with J800

• Bluetube airframe material

• ORK exists and is definitely correct

• Flown twice, exactly one year apart

• Successfully staged both flights

• RUD of 2nd stage on first flight ~1s after secondary ignition, interstage not recovered

• Second flight testing improved staging mechanism, SS-DD recovery on the first stage, and custom avionics, no motor in second stage to save money

• Multiple recovery failures due to human error on second flight leading to critical damage to the adjustable ballast section at bulkhead, multiple zippering areas due to both sock cord and shear pins, not flyable

• Reached ~2200-2300ft both times

MINDI

• 2” diameter (yes, really)

• The club’s first minimum diameter rocket

• 54mm “motor mount” since minimum diameter, flying an Aerotech K1103 motor

• Fiberglass airframe material

• ORK exists and is definitely correct

• Flown once to 14.3kft, current Berkeley altitude record-holder

• Mysterious recovery failure(?) with drogue-less descent followed by main deployed with Jolly Logic Chute Release. Eye of parachute ripped by parachute but still landed 2ft from rocket. Body undamaged, nose cone “intact” but sheared, not flyable

CalVisitor

• 6” diameter

• 98mm motor mount flying Aerotech M1939 motor

• Fiberglass airframe material

• ORK exists and is definitely correct

• Entry for IREC 2022-2023, originally planned for IREC 2021-2022 under the name “HighBearNation”

• 4th place in the apogee competition, reached 10023ft, 23ft off of perfect

• Recovery deployed successfully but the booster section completely sheared off the rocket upon main deployment at the airbrakes fin holes. Then dragged ~5 miles across the desert in the wind before finally being recovered 22hrs after landing. No section survived this event in a flyable condition

• Probably the closest the club will ever get to the target apogee in IREC

Alula

• In development, scheduled to fly January 21st, 2024

• 6” diameter

• Ethanol + LOx biprop blowdown liquid engine

• Test vehicle, the club’s first liquid engine-powered vehicle

• ORK exists (mostly) and will definitely be correct

• Entry for FAR’s Dollar-Per-Foot competition