MCGILL ROCKET TEAM
A tall, slender rocket, primarily black with a red nose cone and red fins, stands upright on a launch rail in a desert-like landscape. The rocket has "ARIES" and other text visible on its side. To the right of the rocket, a white A-frame sign reads "LAUNCH RAIL 3". The ground is sandy with sparse, low-lying vegetation, and the sky above is clear blue.

Project Aeris (2017)

Aeris 10K COTS

The year 2017 represents McGill's 3rd participation in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition. Aeris is our team's 10,000 ft category COTS solid motor rocket, which boasts a reliable, simple, but effective design. The design incorporates a student built carbon fiber airframe, refined separation and recovery mechanism, and a scientific payload studying the internal temperature and velocity data obtained from a pitot tube.

The vehicles architecture has 4 major components: propulsion subsystems, aerostructures subsystems , recovery subsystems, and payload subsystems. The propulsion system is an M-class COTS Aerotech motor which will produce7659 Ns total impulse needed to reach the target apogee of 10,000 feet.

A detailed digital rendering of a horizontal rocket shows a sleek, predominantly red body with a pointed nose cone and three fins at the tail. A central black band along the rocket's body features various white sponsor logos and the text "AERIS 3B" in large, stylized white letters on the red section.

The aerostructures subsystems are manufactured in-house through a newly developed resin infusion process. This was used to manufacture the nose cone, body tubes, fins, and boat-tail which make up the airframe of the vehicle. This process resulted in a significantly higher strength-weight ratio and significantly reduced lead time in production.

The recovery subsystems feature a dual pyrotechnic deployment out of a single seperation point in the airframe. The two parachutes emerge separately from each side of the separation point.

A student developed electronic-based avionics suite is used as the primary ignitation method. In addition, two stratologgers are used as redundant detonation systems.

Finally, the payload subsytems incorporates a nose-cone tip mounted pitot tube and a custom SRAD circuit board and electronics suite to gather inflight data for the computation of in flight velocity.

Design Cycle
#3
2016 - 2017
Length
11.00 ft
3.35 m
Outer Diameter
5.30 in
13.46 cm
Liftoff Weight
55.10 lb
24.99 kg
Average Thrust
429.40 lbf
1.91 kN
Max Mach Number
2.40
2,700.00 ft/s
816.70 m/s
Average Thrust
10,228.00 ft
3.12 km
Thrust-to-Weight Ratio
9.88
Propulsion Type
Solid
Aerotech M1850

Results:

Spaceport America Cup 2017:

  • 10K Category: 30th/45
  • Overall: 50th/82

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A group of approximately 15 young adults, identified as the McGill Rocket Team, are gathered outdoors on what appears to be a dry, unpaved field under a clear blue sky. They are posing for a photo with a large rocket, predominantly black with some red accents, standing vertically behind them. The rocket has "McGILL" and "SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU" visible on its side. In front of the group, held by several team members, is a large red banner displaying "McGill Rocket Team" and "Thank you to our sponsors" along with various sponsor logos. The team members are dressed in casual attire, including t-shirts and shorts, and some are wearing hats and sunglasses. The overall impression is one of accomplishment and teamwork in an outdoor, possibly remote, setting.
Project Peregrine II (2016)

9/13/2016

Peregrine MU-02, is a 10 ft. sounding rocket, that is fully student built and designed to perform optimally and safely at competition. Peregrine MU-02 features an innovative decoupling mechanism as well as an avant-garde payload.

 A group of nine team members, are posing for a photo in an arid, outdoor environment. Behind them stands a tall, slender rocket, predominantly black with a white nose cone, on a launch rail. The team members are holding a large red banner that reads "McGill Rocket Team" and "Thank you to our sponsors," along with various company logos. The individuals are casually dressed, some wearing hats and sunglasses, and they appear to be in good spirits, celebrating their work with the rocket. The sky above is clear and blue.
Project Stella (2017)

7/13/2017

Stella marks our team's first ever participation in the 30,000 ft category, as well as a first ever production of two rockets. The design incorporates a student built carbon fiber airframe and refined separation and recovery mechanism.