A team of University of Bristol students have designed, built, and tested a rocket engine to 6000 Newtons – roughly the same as the weight of a Smart car.
A total of 6000 N sets a new student record for bi-propellant engines, equivalent to 0.6 tonnes of propulsion. The fuel and oxidiser mix and are combusted in the engine chamber to produce the thrust.
The BristolSEDS society (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space), is a student-led group who compete in space-related competitions from Mars rovers to rocket launches and have been developing this groundbreaking engine since November 2023.
After setbacks with fabrication of their 3D-printed combustion chamber prevented its firing at the Race to Space 2024 competition, the team worked with the Manufacturing Technologies Catapult who helped them create two innovative combustion chambers. The first of these was used during the test campaign for the European Rocketry Challenge last September with Second Star, where the team had four days of testing, but that all-important hot-fire remained just out of reach.
Research and test company Airborne Engineering Limited (AEL) supporters of the Race to Space competition, supported the next series of tests.
Team Lead Lillian Macbeth described how the team smashed the record after a series of encouraging trials. She said: “With dusk setting in, there was time for just one more test in the day.
“The team conducted some additional last-minute simulations and decided to give the engine one further challenge.
“The final test achieved a fantastic 6,000 Newtons of thrust, breaking the previous record set by University of Sheffield in July 2024 during the Race to Space competition.
“BristolSEDS’ chamber held strong to endure the awesome temperatures produced.”
These results will help the team to develop the propulsion system for their rocket entry to the European Rocketry Challenge which is held in Constancia, Portugal every October, where they will aim to fly to three kilometre high into the sky.
“It is a huge step in our journey to flight and we are really excited for our next steps toward a launch-ready system,” she added.