Sounding rocket built by UFSC students wins two trophies in international competition
Rocket surpassed the speed of sound, flying at over 1,500 km/h. Photo: ESRA
The Kosmos Rocketry team from the Joinville Campus at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) took third place in one of the categories of the world’s largest experimental sounding rocket competition, the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC).
Kosmos competed in the 30K SRAD Solid Motor category with a single-stage rocket entirely designed by students. The rocket reached approximately Mach 1.27 – which translates to 1.27 times the speed of sound, approximately 1,570 km/h – and climbed to an altitude of 24,190 feet (almost 7.4 kilometers).
With this result, Kosmos won two trophies: one for their performance in the 30K SRAD Solid Motor category and the Team Sportsmanship Award, given to teams demonstrating exceptional competitive spirit. A total of 185 teams from 20 different countries participated in the event, held between 9 and 14 June in Texas, USA, and sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA), a non-profit organization founded in 2003.
According to the Kosmos team, this was the rocket’s first flight, the result of two years of research and development. The biggest challenge was designing the engine, which used a less efficient propellant than that of many U.S. competitors. To achieve comparable thrust, the engine had to be larger than those used by other teams.
Kosmos received two awards: for flight performance and for team spirit. Photo: UFSC Joinville
