Prometheus was the first one-year cycle for the team after many years, the goal of the project was to have (a) an external entity holding us accountable to certain standards and deadlines, and (b) to have a project that starts from scratch when new members are onboarded, so they feel ownership over a project from the beginning.
Prometheus ended after a test launch at URRG on April 26, 2024. The vehicle had a propulsion leakage during boost and recovery failures on both stages but was recovered almost entirely intact. It was decided by the teamleads that there was not enough remaining time in the semester to hit all the required milestones in order to make a safe launch at the Spaceport America Cup in June, and so the project was not continued.
Leadership
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Chief Engineer | Jack Ansley |
| Structures Lead | Ezra Eyre |
| Propulsion Lead | Derek Chan |
| Avionics Lead | Bronwyn Busby |
Rocket Information
| Number of stages | 2 |
| Vehicle length | 191" |
| Airframe diameter | 6.17", 6.00", 6.34" |
| Number of fins | 4 |
Fim semi-span | 8" |
| Vehicle weight | 53 lbs |
| Empty motor case/structure weight | 47.4 lbs |
| Propellent weight | 38.8 lbs |
| Payload weight | 8.8 lbs |
| Liftoff weight | 148 lbs |
| Center of Pressure | 143.53" from tip |
| Center of Gravity | 130" from tip |
| Average thrust | 5500 N |
| Motor burn time | 3.8 s |
| Maximum motor pressure | 780 psi |
| Motor inital Kn | 182.9 |
| Motor max Kn | 196.8 |
| Max acceleration | 11.15 G |
| Max velocity | 1990 ft/s |
| Predicted apogee | 32983 ft AGL |