As I have indicated, this is a massive undertaking and this is to be broken down into several smaller projects. Below is a rough idea of how I think this should be done. Within each ‘project’ there are some main technical objectives and properties of each flight.
Obtain Amatuer Rocket Certification L1
- Solid Composite Motor
- Parachute Recovery
- Launch Platform
- Launch Electroncs
- Multiple flights likely
Obtain Amatuer Rocket Certification L2
- Solid Composite Motor
- Parachute Recovery
- Spin stabilisation
- Basic electronics (Tracking + Camera + Sensors)
- Multiple flights likely
Obtain Amatuer Rocket Certification L3
- Purchased Hybrid Rocket Engine
- Drogue Parachute + Parachute Recovery
- New Launch Platform
- More advanced electronics (Tracking + Camera + Sensors + acutators for Parachutes)
- Multiple flights likely
Design/Build Nitrous Hybrid Rocket
- Perform test burns and characterise the engine over different initial conditions (So we can accurate simulate it).
- Construct Rocket for new Rocket Engine
- Drogue Parachute + Parachute Recovery
- New Launch Platform
- Perform multiple Test Flights
Rackoon
- Build Launch platform
- Build electronics
- Build Hybrid Rocket
- Design/build/organise Balloon systems
- Perform test Flights (controlled, small ones)
- Perform Flight
- Ultimately perform Rackoon Flights
NOTE: I suspect this last part project will be a lot longer to complete than the other ones.
I expect things to change as take this journey. However, I believe that is a sensible good start.
Obviously timeframes is one area that I need to think about. This series of projects looks huge, and indeed it is. But I believe that with some careful planning, we can re-use components and techniques used from prior projects. Not only will this save time, but it will give me an oppotunity to fully test components and improve upon them over time.