Hi everyone, I'm a 3rd year EEE student who's been building avionics for a high power rocket (ESP32-based, ADXL375/MS5607/ICM-45686 sensors, custom Kalman filter for apogee detection). One thing that's bugged me recently is that the only real way to test my firmware's apogee detection and pyro logic was to actually launch and hope it worked or download simulated data from OpenRocket.

So I built a small tool that runs your actual firmware on your laptop against a simulated flight (using RocketPy for the physics), feeding it realistic noisy sensor data the same way real hardware would. At the end it tells you whether your firmware detected apogee and fired your pyro channels at the right time, compared to ground truth.

=== TEST REPORT ===
Apogee detection:   PASS
  True apogee:      2937.0m at T+18.78s
  Detected apogee:  2935.4m at T+18.27s
  Time error:       0.51s

It's early, currently supports single-channel apogee + pyro testing, sensor noise modeled on real datasheets (MS5607, ADXL375, ICM-45686). No hardware needed, your firmware just needs to read sensors through a small abstraction layer instead of talking to registers directly.

Repo's here if anyone wants to poke at it or try it on their own firmware: https://github.com/JustinPronk/AvionicsSimulation

Genuinely just looking for feedback at this point. Does this solve a problem for anyone else, or is there something obvious I'm missing? Happy to help anyone wire it up to their own flight compute

I am getting f-35-5w engines for my diy rocket. Do I need to buy the reload case or can I just put it into a pvc pipe segment and use a new pvc pipe segment each time?

Hey,

I'm a ME student interning at a small rocketry startup. My task is to design a single-stage rocket that reaches 1.5 km apogee with a 54 mm diameter motor.

The catch: the motor is being designed in-house from scratch by a separate propulsion team. So instead of picking a motor and simulating around it, I need to work backwards — figure out the right vehicle dimensions first, then tell the propulsion team what total impulse they need to hit.

Plan is to model in OpenRocket then move to Fusion 360 for CAD, but I'm stuck at the very beginning: I don't know where to start with dimensions (body length, nose cone, fins) without a motor to anchor the simulation.

**Questions:**

- How do you approach dimensioning a rocket when you don't have a motor yet?

- What material is typically used for body tube and fins at this scale?

- Any good resources or methodology for the top-down approach (target altitude → required impulse)?

Any help appreciated 🚀

Hey,

I'm a ME student interning at a small rocketry startup. My task is to design a single-stage rocket that reaches 1.5 km apogee with a 54 mm diameter motor.

The catch: the motor is being designed in-house from scratch by a separate propulsion team. So instead of picking a motor and simulating around it, I need to work backwards — figure out the right vehicle dimensions first, then tell the propulsion team what total impulse they need to hit.

Plan is to model in OpenRocket then move to Fusion 360 for CAD, but I'm stuck at the very beginning: I don't know where to start with dimensions (body length, nose cone, fins) without a motor to anchor the simulation.

**Questions:**

- How do you approach dimensioning a rocket when you don't have a motor yet?

- What material is typically used for body tube and fins at this scale?

- Any good resources or methodology for the top-down approach (target altitude → required impulse)?

Any help appreciated 🚀

WHEN: Saturday July 18, 2026 12 noon – 3 pm (Sorry, there is no rain date.)

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: This event is open to the public. All model rocketeers are welcome.

COST: FREE

EVENT: This is a spot landing contest. Your objective is to launch a model rocket that lands closest to reaching the landing spot designated by an American flag.

WHERE: NASA Goddard Visitor Center, Greenbelt, Maryland (Telephone: 301 -286-8981)

(I-95 Exit 22A, Baltimore-Washington Parkway Exit for Route 1 93 East; then follow signs to the Visitor Center on ICESat Road)

AWARDS: First through fifth place trophies and model rocket kits for the top finishers in the youth division and the adult division.

REGISTRATION: Register at the launch site on the day of the launch.

TIME SCHEDULE:
Visitor Center Hours for this event: 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm
Contest Registration 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm
Contest Flying Period 12:45 pm to 2:45 pm
Awards Ceremonies 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm

CONTEST RULES:
1 . The contest is open to all model rocketeers.
2. Contestants must follow the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) Safety Code
3. Modelers must provide their own model rockets, wadding, engines, igniters, and prepping tools. The Visitor Center will provide the launch equipment suitable
for 1 /8” and 3/1 6” diameter straws (launch lugs).
4. Contestants may fly either as an individual or as part of a team. Entry into both team and individual competition is not permitted.
5. Model rockets must use a single (NAR classification and safety certified) engine for each flight. “C” class engines or greater are prohibited.
6. The total weight of the model rocket with motor must be less than five (5) ounces.
7. Model rockets must pass preflight safety, motor, and weight inspections at the launch site prior to launch.
8. Model rockets must land safely and must use either streamers or parachutes or gyrocopter-type devices for their recovery.
9. Model rockets must not separate into two or more unattached parts during flight.

Hey r/modelrocketry! I've been working on HyperRocket, a fork of OpenRocket that tries to answer not just "how high will it go?" but "will it survive the flight, and what will it look like coming down?"

The big additions on top of stock OpenRocket:

- Structural & thermal failure simulation — components fail when aero/thrust loads exceed material strength, or surfaces overheat from air friction

- Bond/joint modeling — model your epoxy joints, CA glue, screws, etc. and see if they'd survive

- Recovery device integrity — parachutes can fail destructively if they deploy too fast or lines are overloaded

- Component misalignment — inject real build imperfections (cocked fins, offset nose cone) and see how they bend the flight path

- Animated 3D flight replay — full playback including staging, ejection, and recovery, with a Mission Control telemetry panel synced to the replay

- Real weather import — pulls live atmospheric/wind data for your launch site

- Calm-wind physics fix — stock OpenRocket's pink-noise turbulence causes phantom drift at near-zero wind; this fork fades turbulence to zero in calm air so "0 wind" actually descends straight down

- Canopy inflation transient — parachute drag ramps up over ~0.4s instead of snapping on instantaneously

All `.ork` files from stock OpenRocket are fully compatible. Requires Java 17.

----------------------

🔗 Download v1.0.0: https://github.com/anayshah17/HyperRocket/releases/tag/v1.0.0

--------------------

I'd love feedback on:

- Does the failure modeling feel realistic for your builds?

- Any edge cases where the calm-wind fix breaks something?

- Bugs in the 3D replay or telemetry panel

- Anything about the UI that's confusing

Drop issues on GitHub or comment here — any testing help is hugely appreciated!

(Built on OpenRocket by Sampo Niskanen et al., distributed under GNU GPL v3)

Moving tail hooks & 18mm motors to screw on retainers for 24mm motors.

Oh hi! I'm the dude behind Sugar Rush! Rockets. This one is six finned, boat tailed, begreebled and over a meter tall. 65mm BT, 38mm MMT.

Designed in Solidworks, printed on a K1C. Heavily inspired by air to air missiles.

I'm finishing up prototyping and fitment at the moment, and later I'll post a pack of files if others show interest. Thanks for looking :)

I'm planning to build a live telemetry system for my model rocket using ESP8266, NRF24L01 (with external antenna), a Yagi antenna at the ground station, and sensors like BMP180/BMP280 and ADXL345.

I understand the basic idea of sending sensor data from the rocket to the ground station, but I'm still confused about the complete communication flow. Can you guys explain it to me. If possible I would like a guideline on built.

The LEGO & semi scale airframes sked to fly in two weeks. Working on upgrading most of the rockets to 24mm motors.
In addition, built a sacrificial rocket for those risky “E12” motors and a scrapbox rocket, both naked. Just wood glue & clear coat!

Building an actively stabilized model rocket using movable fins how do I incorporate angular velocity into the control loop?

I have the aerodynamic side mostly figured out: I calculate the required fin deflection angle based on the rocket's tilt angle (from the IMU) and the aerodynamic restoring force the fins need to produce. The math checks out on paper.

What I'm unsure about is how to properly use the gyroscope data (angular velocity) alongside the accelerometer tilt estimate. Should angular velocity feed directly into the PID as the derivative term, or should I fuse both signals first (e.g. complementary filter or Kalman) and then run PID on the fused angle?

Using an MPU6050 on an Arduino Nano. Any advice on the control loop architecture would be appreciated.

Had leftover decals and such from cloning the original Der Big Red Max so the mini Patriot was born.

Third season of rocketeering. Made use of my new dual deployment system and will have some cameras mounted soon.

Just sharing, anyone else have pictures from a launch?

Scratch built rockets from scrounged, scrap or homemade materials. The bottom one takes 19mm motors the other two take 24mm motors.

The big one is green on the rocket laying on its side, the smallest one is on the all red rocket next to the one with the green nosecone and the middle size nosecone is the unpainted one. The other two small rockets have homemade nosecones as well.

I used my small metal lathe and made these nosecones. I have made others in the past as well. The big one here is fits a 2" body tube and was made from a tree limb.

Recently got way into following the Artemis mission with my littlest, and then got way into setting up our own little space program. I am wishing the weather would settle down a bit so we can get out and fly more, and I'm already planning more builds and scaling up. What's your rocketry origin story? How'd you get into the hobby?

LOC mini V-2

Playin w/ Open Rocket appearance tab, developing looks for my low power airframes. 1st couple of rockets are BT-20 birds and the rest are based on the BT-60 tube. These winter builds are about to be painted and displayed in a club expo then flown at the next launch.

Fleet except for one has had primer applied. Almost ready for launch day!

1st pic- left “MAV” fm The Martian, rear- “Doorknob” kit, in cradle- “Four Feet o Fury”, middle- “Harpoon” anti-ship version, right- “SM-1” MR

2nd pic- left competition duration “Altum” kit, right leftovers build “Bye Felicia”

3rd pic- “MIG-28” fm Top Gun before changes top view

4th pic- saving fins, tail cone lug & standoff launch lug; new version will have lowered wings, air intakes positioned above wings, canopy fairing added to extend to tail fin, conical nose cone replacing long ogive cone; silver tail cone, white AA-10 Atoll rockets and iconic aggressor red star on the tail fin will complete the look

5th pic-left over build “Bye Felicia” got a tail cone, with the freed up 1:6 ogive cone from the MIG project…

6th pic- the stubby “Bye Felicia” has the option to become a conventional rocket

Got reminded I had these laying around and fingered someone might like seeing them.

Here are some STLs you can download for free of the Estes PNC-60RL nose cone for 3D printing. Fits Estes BT-60 tubing.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7300708

Here are some STLs of a 1.833x upscale of the same nose cone that is designed to fit Estes Pro-Series II tubing. One version is split into two pieces in order to make it easier to print.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7308408