The Yellow Jacket Space Program: Insights into Starting a Student Led Space-Shot Rocketry Team at the Georgia Institute of Technology

摘要

The Yellow Jacket Space Program is developing a suborbital sounding rocket to deliver a scientific payload above the 100km Karman Line. As part of the incremental approach toward building a space-shot vehicle, the team is developing a solid rocket testbed and a sub-scale liquid-fueled vehicle to facilitate prototyping and testing of complex subsystems such as avionics, propulsion, and recovery. The program intends to promote university-level space research, prepare students for the space industry, and advance the frontiers of launch vehicle development. The team has learned many lessons and experienced unique challenges as a student organization developing launch vehicles.