The inaugural launch of our Stage Separation rocket (SSEP) took place in September 2022, marking a significant milestone in our research and development efforts. This pioneering endeavor, affectionately named "Pinkbeary," served as a proof-of-concept project to assess the efficacy of a two-stage airframe design and a spring-actuated separation mechanism, which is triggered by the detonation of pyro bolts. Notably, this endeavor showcased novel recovery methods and airframe architectures, firmly establishing UC Berkeley's prominence in the field of successful staging rocket launches. The SSEP achieved an impressive apogee of approximately 2,377 feet.
Building upon this initial triumph, our team is currently immersed in the second iteration of our stage separation project series (SSEP2 - Caldera), which will feature a stage separation rocket competing on the international stage. Anticipated to reach a projected apogee of 30,000 feet, this forthcoming mission will incorporate enhanced structures, advanced recovery techniques, and an exciting new glider payload. To ensure meticulous planning and evaluation, we are preparing to conduct a critical design review for the rocket in the near future.
In parallel, our dedicated team is diligently working on a reflight of the Pinkbeary project to rigorously test the competition staging mechanism. This eagerly awaited flight is scheduled for September 3rd, 2023. We invite you to stay tuned for updates leading up to the launch, as we embark on this thrilling chapter of our scientific exploration.
After a year of development and perfection of our different techniques, we were able to launch Caldera's upper stage on March 23rd 2024 to test our new innovative parachute deployment system (single side dual-deployment) and make early testings of our payload and airbrakes mechanism. After a successful test flight, we then continued our developpement and did a second test flight, this time with the 2 stages on April 27th 2024, this time to test the staging mechanism and to further analysis on the payload and the airbrakes mechanism. Despite an airstart failure of the second stage, the staging mechanism proved to be very successful and that the rocket was ready for IREC 2024. Caldera flew successfully without any critical problems, achieving an apogee of 27,500ft breaking UC Berkeley's apogee record by nearly 2 times.
The inaugural launch of our Stage Separation rocket (SSEP) took place in September 2022, marking a significant milestone in our research and development efforts. This pioneering endeavor, affectionately named "Pinkbeary," served as a proof-of-concept project to assess the efficacy of a two-stage airframe design and a spring-actuated separation mechanism, which is triggered by the detonation of pyro bolts. Notably, this endeavor showcased novel recovery methods and airframe architectures, firmly establishing UC Berkeley's prominence in the field of successful staging rocket launches. The SSEP achieved an impressive apogee of approximately 2,377 feet.