Vehicle · 2025 · Launch Canada

Nimbus

First place in the Payload Challenge and third in the Basic Launch Category at Launch Canada 2025.

Flight record

What it did.

Figures come from the onboard flight computer.

Apogee: 17,862 ft feet above ground level
Max velocity: Mach 1.14 at burnout
Max acceleration: 9.5 G peak, from flight data
Length: 2.7 m (106.3 in) overall, tip to tail
Liftoff mass: 14.2 kg dry / 23.4 kg wet fuelled, with payload
Motor: CTI N1800 designation and impulse class
Recovery: drogue @ apogee · main @ 1496 ft drogue and main configuration
Result: 1st, Payload Challenge · 3rd, Basic Launch Category

The build

How it was made.

Nimbus flew as a single-stage, commercial-motor airframe: 101.6 mm (4 in) in diameter, with a stability margin of 3.11 calibers. It flew on a CTI N1800, rated for 10,366.9 Ns of total impulse and 1,759.8 N of average thrust. Blue Raven flew as primary with EasyMini and Void Lake as backups. Dual-deploy recovery fired drogue near apogee and main at 1,496 ft AGL. Peak velocity was 1,254.98 ft/s (Mach 1.14 at burnout).

Gallery

At competition.

The Nimbus team with disassembled airframe sections under the McMaster Engineering tent at Launch Canada 2025, NIMBUS lettering visible. — Integration at the range. The full crew with the airframe broken down for transport.

A team member arms Nimbus on the launch rail against clear sky before flight. — Arming on the rail. Last checks on pyrotechnics and avionics before the count.

The open avionics bay on the yellow Nimbus airframe, wiring and flight hardware visible. — The avionics stack wired into the bay: flight computers, harnesses, and bulkhead connectors.

Signed Nimbus fin sections on a towel after recovery, team names in gold marker. — Signed fins after recovery. Every flight crew leaves their mark before the airframe goes back in the rack.

Luminis V2 All vehicles Osiris

Build the next one

We hire first years.

We hire people who have never touched a rocket. Come ready to learn. We'll teach the rest.

Find us at Facultyfest on August 31, 12:30 to 17:00, or Clubsfest on September 14, 16:30 to 19:30 on the JHE field. Applications close September 18. You don't need to be an engineer: we need people on operations as much as on airframe.

How to join Sponsor the team Email us