Aquila

Take to the Skies.

A Non-Traditional Path.

Originally designed as the upper stage of a two-stage space-shot, Aquila was designed for hypersonic flight after separating from a liquid first stage and propelling to 150km. After feasibility studies demonstrated the benefits of a single-stage approach, Aquila was converted into its own project with a small but impressive launch to 3km in order to test it’s novel hypersonic recovery system. The team focused on preparing for this with trajectory simulations, OpenFOAM CFD simulations for parachute design and geometry checking via Pflanz method. Aquila was launched in September 2023 at Friends of Amateur Rocketry Mojave, and had a successful flight until the recovery system failed to deploy. The first launch for the society since 2017, Aquila provided valuable experience for the team in preparation for Griffin I.

Altitude

3km

Wet Mass

30kg

Height

2.4m

Top Speed

M1.5

Nevada

Friends of Amateur Rocketry

The Life-Saver

A 100ft streamer slows Aquila’s descent from apogee and allows its main parachute to deploy safely at a much lower altitude. This reduces drift and prevents it from crashing at speeds of up to 200m/s.

The Base

Giving Aquila its name, the elegent bistable fin system provides a high calibre of stability to our hypersonic flight.

The Body

Aquila’s airframe has been completely calibrated for stability and is operational at a much higher speed than experienced during flight.

The Soul

A Cesaroni Pro98 to propel Aquila.

A Launch Video

A Gallery

Something Caught Your Eye?

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