A team of Mechanical Engineering students of Dr BR Ambedkar University of Srikakulam District decided make rockets with a re-landing technology to minimise the cost of the space technology. Under the guidance of the Head of the Department Madhulatha, students Jayanth, Ravi Kiran, Shiva Ram, Divya Teja, Shirish Kumar, and Satish successfully completed the first stage of the rocket launch. According to the team lead Jayanth, they prepared the model of a rocket with 3D printing technology using plastic and Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP) fuel which is used in Amateur rockets.
Amateur rockets are used for weather monitoring satellites ranging about 100 kilometres and utilise Potassium Nitrate as a fuel. “Amateur rockets are an inspiration for our innovation. These are low in cost and reusable. We tried the different fuels. But they are heavy in weight and finally, we chose APCP,” Jayanth told News18. Initially, we tried to lift the vehicle for 100 metres and go beyond to the next level, he further said.
Jayanth also stated that they wanted to use liquid propellant fuel which is expensive and lighter than solid fuel. However, they were not able to afford the cost of it. The team has spent about Rs 50,000 for their experiment.
“We tried and failed five times, now our initial experiment is successful. We could successfully burn the fuel with ignition and could lift the vehicle to some extent. We will go for 100 metres in the next level,” Jayanth added.
“We are working to launch the rocket within available resources successfully. Students are doing an excellent job. I hope the technology we use in our experiment is the future of space technology. The vehicles which we are using in the present launching are not reusable,” Madhu Latha, HoD of the Mechanical Branch told News18.
The students have requested research institutions and government organisations to utilise their technology and give opportunity for large-scale experiments.
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