Bringing our Rocket Home
Recovery Subteam
About our Subteam
Recovery’s job is to ensure that every launch and landing proceeds successfully. We achieve this through a multidisciplinary approach, combining the expertise of many engineering and science departments. Keep reading to learn more about the Recovery Team’s projects, roles, and responsibilities.
Dual Deployment System
McMaster Rocketry uses a dual deployment system to return the rocket safely with the goal to be in reusable condition.
Our drogue parachute deploys at apogee and slows down the rocket’s descent until main parachute deployment at a lower altitude to minimize rocket drift.
Our parachutes are deployed by black powder charges triggered by an electrical signal from our avionics.
CO2 Ejection System
In anticipation of higher altitude flights, our subteam is currently developing a CO2 ejection system to replace our current pyrotechnic ejection system.
This design was created and manufactured by our subteam and will be tested in the later months of 2024.
Black Powder Combustion
Ready State
Venting
COTS Avionics
The selection and integration of avionics into the recovery system is essential to a nominal flight and another responsibility of the recovery subteam. These COTS avionics are what our team currently uses to recover our rockets.
FEATHERWEIGHT BLUE RAVEN ALTIMETER
Primary Deployment
EASYMINI ALTIMETER
Backup Deployment
FEATHERWEIGHT GPS
GPS Tracking
Flight Simulations
Flight predicting simulations are essential for anticipating the details of our flight from apogee predictions to terminal velocity predictions under both drogue and main parachutes. With the help of flight data from our most recent launch of Luminis v2, we plan on improving our software and adding new features to create a more robust simulation.