November 2018 - Castle Point Rocketry

Meeting with Launcher

November 29, 2018June 5, 2020
by Dakota

Late Tuesday afternoon, we met with Launcher: A Brooklyn-based startup building rocket engines. Cool.

After a few months of back and forth e-mails with Max Haot, founder and CEO, we knew it was time for an in-person meet-up. After all, what they’re experimenting with is the stomach of our project!

President Nariman Farvardin arranged a meeting with Launcher — who very generously was able to give the time of Max and two engineers: Andre Ivankovic and Luis Alcalde. Launcher and Castle Point Rocketry met for 90 minutes to exchange design ideas, team pitfalls, and questions. Kishore Pochiraju, our lead faculty advisor, and President Farvardin attended as well.

Launcher’s Chamber/Injector Design. Source: launcherspace.com

I’m happy to say that I think we all learned a lot. Our relationship with Launcher is stronger than ever — and Stevens was able to found a relationship with them, too! Furthermore, Launcher has pledged the use of their test site for Castle Point Rocketry’s model engine test fires.

Launcher’s test facility is located in Calverton, NY, a nice hike out Long Island — though not nearly as far as the team would be driving without Launcher’s help.

We’re looking forward to a great wrap-up to this semester iterating on our injector and chamber designs, and we will be checking back in with Launcher periodically from here out!

Uncategorized

101010

November 20, 2018June 5, 2020
by Nate

Things went from 0 to 1 real quick here at our global headquarters- our first binary valve, courtesy of Luke Colby from Triton Aerospace. Here’s a photo of the lil’ valve:

This valve is integral to our propulsion system, and will regulate the flow of RP-1 in the vehicle.

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Official Stevens Article

November 15, 2018June 5, 2020
by Dakota

What do Elon Musk, Gen Z, and Castle Point Rocketry all have in common? We’re name-dropped in an article recently published by Stevens Institute of Technology.

A story regarding Castle Point Rocketry was circulated on the Stevens webpage. (And on all of the bulletin TVs around campus!) Following a meeting the team had with members of the Division of Communications and Marketing and the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science, the team’s enthusiasm about reaching the Karman line has officially been adopted into Stevens canon.

The authors of the article met not only with members of the team, but also spoke with a faculty advisor and a couple of our corporate sponsors. It’s always good for morale to hear yourselves called “ambitious and innovative” and “pioneering!”

You can read the full Stevens News article (and re-watch our initial pitch video) here.

News

Prototyping!

November 15, 2018June 5, 2020
by Nate

The team has been busy developing and testing prototypes of critical sub-systems. Most recently the team completed pressure testing a scale model of our 3D printed engine! This print allowed us to learn about the way our design geometry interacts with the 3D printing process. The team was able to gather a significant amount of data from the print and subsequent tests. We used this data to refine our design and improve our printability.

The avionics team has also been working on prototyping. Pictured below is the first iteration of our flight computer! The flight computer will handle all flight functions of the rocket, including actuators and data acquisition.

News

Health and Safety Meet-Up

November 15, 2018June 5, 2020
by Dakota

Last week was a busy one — and one of Castle Point Rocketry’s myriad meetings was with David Fernandez, Stevens’s Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Obviously, this was pretty important.

David was instrumental in reminding us which materials could be stored on campus and which couldn’t. We held a great discussion about some of the pivots our team could move to, should the current course of action prove inviable. Finally, and most excitingly, we got to go “shopping” for new clothes.

The end of our meeting found us in the EHS office (with David) trying on lab coats like a gaggle of mad scientists. (See the photo of us smiling like some, too.) David also aided us in refining our fire suppression and protection techniques.