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Project Karman

Project Karman is the first project of ASTRA and it aims to design, build and launch a hybrid rocket that reaches the Karman line at 100km height. Reaching the Karman line, which is thought of as the outer boundary between usable airspace for aviation and spaceflight, is generally regarded as the first step to developing launch system technologies and serves as a good platform for understanding the technical challenges involved.

A team of forty students is involved to get the project underway and launch ready in just two years, which would make ASTRA the second student group to reach the Karman line and the only student group to achieve this with a hybrid rocket design. Check out our Meet the Team tab to find out more about our members and team structure!

The current design is a passively stabilized rocket that uses Paraffin Wax as fuel and N20 as oxidizer. This hybrid design allows us to comply with university and launch site regulations and will make transport a lot easier, even though the design is more challenging. The design features a 5kg payload and weighs around 275kg in total. Future design improvements will show how the final rocket will be constructed.

This mission will provide valuable insight into the construction and design of a rocket as well as providing engineering data for further ASTRA projects like scientific payloads that require between 10-15 minutes of microgravity.

A short mission summary: 

Goal Altitude: 100km
Expected mass (wet): 275kg
Payload mass: 5kg
Propulsion: Hybrid
Fuel: Paraffin Wax
Oxidizer: N20
Max Thrust: 20 KN
Rocket Case: Aluminium 6061
Aerodynamic stability: Passive fins
Max G-Forces: 20g
Avionics: IMU and GPS
Recovery: Parachute deployment at 5km

 

The current status of the Project can be tracked via our News page and with the help of our Project plan.