Rocketry students first Australians to compete in US challenge
厂颈濒惫别谤别测别'蝉听custom-design聽has allowed it to travel at high speeds.
A grueling year of intensive testing, planning and hard work has a team of budding rocket scientists over the moon.
Next week, the聽聽will be the first Australian team to attend and compete in the 2019 Spaceport America Cup, an annual university rocketry competition held in New Mexico.聽
This year鈥檚 competition has attracted over 100 university teams from around the world聽鈥撀爀ach team will be launching their student-built and designed rockets in a race for the sky.
Spaceport America Cup is comprised of several categories that allow student teams to compete based on varying altitude targets and a range of propulsion systems.聽
The University of Sydney team has entered their custom-built rocket聽Silvereye聽in the 10,000 feet commercial off-the-shelf category, meaning the team鈥檚 rocket will be launched with a commercial solid rocket motor with a target altitude exceeding 3聽kilometres.聽
During a recent test launch in regional New South Wales,聽Silvereye聽soared to a record height of over 10,000 feet on its very first attempt. The team then replicated this flight at the Australian Universities Rocket Competition held in Queensland earlier this year.聽
Named聽Silvereye聽after the Australian bird, the 23kg rocket has reached a maximum speed of over 1,000聽kilometres聽per hour while carrying a miniature satellite.聽
鈥淪ilvereye is able to fly any standard 2U sized CubeSat allowing us to achieve a variety of missions such as test flying student-built satellites or even performing low gravity experiments.鈥澛爀xplained the team鈥檚 Chief Engineer and Aerospace Engineering student聽Mitchell Galletly.
"We have used a聽systems聽engineering approach to design our rocket from the ground up in order for it to be safe, reliable, and聽customisable,鈥澛爃e said.
Although no other Australian team has ever entered the Spaceport America Cup, the team is confident they will excel in their category while representing Australia on the international stage.
鈥淪ilvereye聽is constructed from a custom-designed and manufactured carbon聽fibre聽airframe and uses a solid propellant to achieve speeds approaching the speed of sound,鈥澛爀xplained聽Mitchell.
Team Vice-President and Aerospace Engineering student Clara Morris said competing in this year鈥檚 Spaceport America Cup is the result of the team鈥檚 long and continuous effort.聽
鈥淪ilvereye聽is a culmination of more than a year鈥檚 worth of detailed design, analysis, construction and testing conducted by undergraduate students,鈥澛爏he said.
鈥淚t has been tremendously rewarding to extend our knowledge outside of the classroom and gain聽practical聽 experience聽as a team of engineers.鈥�
The rocketry team has already successfully launched聽Silvereye聽in both regional New South Wales and Queensland.
The team has already been聽commended聽for聽their recent launches and for successfully entering the American competition.聽
"Silvereye聽will be the first Australian university rocket to compete in the Spaceport America Cup, which demonstrates the team鈥檚 determination and skill,鈥澛爏aid former NASA astronaut and Lawrence Hargrave Adjunct Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, Professor Gregory聽Chamitoff.
鈥淚鈥檓 really impressed with the quality of workmanship and professionalism of this entire team. I鈥檝e never seen such attention to detail from any student team and it will serve them well during the competition,鈥澛爃e said.
Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee believes the students鈥櫬爀ntry to the international competition is testament to the high calibre of tertiary education in New South Wales.
鈥淚 wish Sydney University鈥檚 rocketry students the best of luck as they make history as the first and only Australian team ever to compete in the Spaceport America Cup.
鈥淭hese inspiring students and their dedicated teachers are a shining example to the world of the first-class education facilities we have here in New South Wales, and we wish them well in New Mexico,鈥澛爃e said.
Silvereye聽is the second high-powered rocket to be fully designed, built and launched by the University of Sydney Rocketry Team following the launch of their first high-powered rocket,聽Wedgetail, in 2017.聽
About the University of Sydney Rocketry Team
The University of Sydney Rocketry Team is Australia鈥檚 oldest tertiary student rocketry team聽and聽is made up of a multidisciplinary group of student engineers who design and manufacture high-powered sounding rockets. In late 2018, the team became the first Australian university team to successfully reach 10,000 feet.