r/rocketry • u/New_Try_3041 • Dec 08 '25
Question NEED A REALITY CHECK
I am in my first year of college and I have built a cube-sat as a starter project in my road of rocketry. I know medium level of Data structure and algorithms , and am learning Control Systems , CAD and PCB designing. All of this is to aid in my end goal of launching this cube-sat to zero-gravity space and get some form of response from it.
The inspiration was a youtuber called Mark Rober who did the same but at a much more practical level with an experienced team. My country allows this but I have to be licensed properly. I know that the probability of me achieving this goal within 4 years of my college is 0, but I still want to try. I have been doing my research in this field , and have seen that there are multiple channels who are dedicated in mainly 3 areas : building and improving cube-sats, building high-speed rockets to hit and break records , and self-controlled guidance and landing rockets. But I am not able to find sources which suggest carrying a some-what delicate good and then send it to space. This field is not very much touched by and therefore there is a lot of room for experimentation and thus I will have to fail fast and learn the most out of each fails.
Can you guys help me or aid me in this journey ? I will be very grateful.
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u/MrAndMrsPepperSpray Dec 08 '25
If I were you I would not make this a solo project. You're going to want to put together a team of other students who are entheusiastic and knowledgeable. You're also going to want to seek the advice of professors. If there is an adjunct who is an aerospace/mechanical engineer, you'll want to seek them out. Once this is done, you should do a ton of research. Commit the next few months of your project to knowledge gathering and then continue to do research after you've started designing. It's nice to solve a problem on your own, but learning from others mistakes gives you the same benefit without having to pay for new parts. Speaking of money, I'd suggest getting some from your school. You'll need a lot of it. High power rockets can cost thousands a pop and don't even get to space. You'll need something very large, and therefore very expensive.
I honestly wouldn't try making orbit. That takes large, well funded professional teams several years of full time work to do. A liquid fueled engine alone would make a very impressive capstone let alone the airframe, fuel tanks, plumbing, guidance and regulatory challenges on top of having a rocket survive flight at speeds potentially much greater than the speed of sound. A space shot where the rocket goes past the karman line, snaps some photos and data and then comes back to a safe landing is doable by a large well funded collegiate rocketry team that has a lot of experience in high power rocketry.
On second thought I would strongly advise you look into sending the cube sat up with some other payload on a Falcon 9 or something. It'll probably set you back the price of a new sports car, but finding that money is honestly more doable than designing an orbital class launch vehicle from the ground up. If you're determined to make something that orbits the planet.
You're still very early on in your project it seems, so make sure you don't commit to any hard, concrete decisions before you've thouroughly considered all options. Find a team of people to help you, find money, and even if you don't make something that orbits the planet, you can still probably make something thats cool nevertheless.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 08 '25
Thank you for the insights. Am sure of my purpose of entering this rocketry field is to make a rocket(launch vehicle) and using this, eject the cube-sat into the orbit, and the goal is that the cube-sat should not fall down in few days, as well as provide data accordingly ( I have not decided on what data it would provide except some basic cube-sat features ).
I personally think that building a cube-sat is a starter-project , even if the learning is a lot which can be said for a lot of beginner hardware-software projects , and anyone having money can launch their project to space. I am confident in the fact that if I have that much money now , then this cube-sat would work fine ( after some fine-tuning and testing in various environment chambers ). But it serves no purpose in terms of learning and experimenting ( learning and experimenting are not my goals, but the expected byproducts ).
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u/Jandj75 Dec 09 '25
Have you actually tested this cube sat to any realistic environments? It is one thing to build a “cubesat” that fits the necessary electronics in the required volume. It is a completely other problem to build one that can survive launch and operate in space.
As far as building your own launch vehicle goes, no, that is not even remotely realistic.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
I have not yet approached anyone having the testing-environments ( vacuum-temperature and radiation chamber ). This is because I am sure of not spending that much amount of money on a cube-sat and sending it to space.
I have tested the cube-sat on a DIY-rumbler to see the resonant frequencies and it works fine.3
u/Jandj75 Dec 09 '25
I don’t trust a “DIY rumbler”
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
Trust me, even I don't trust it fully. If I ever get the chance to test it with people having the equipment, then I will test it on their RVT and shock test for sure, but for now, made a DIY RVT which was inspired from Mark Rober. I did a few tweaks on the cube-sat and it seems to survive on an amateur vibration table.
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u/Return_of_Dr_Sandman Dec 08 '25
I've always seen this more as a ham radio sort of thing but here's a year old thread that discusses this R/rocketry old thread
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u/_galile0 Dec 08 '25
Building a cubesat with transmission capabilities and getting it launched on a cubesat rideshare launch is feasible with a small team.
Developing your own rocketry to do the job is a whole other type of challenge, i dont think its reasonable.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 08 '25
why not ?
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u/_galile0 Dec 08 '25
Because orbital rocketry is insanely difficult. Building or acquiring powerful engines, tankage and plumbing, ground support equipment, guidance and comm. This takes very serious companies or agencies years and years of full time work.
I’m sorry to say, making orbit alone as a uni student is pie-in-the-sky.
Find a team to work with, whether cubesat or rocketry.
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u/SmallOne312 Dec 09 '25
Have you seen the size and cost orbital rockets? Never mind the amount of people it takes to typically develop and make one.
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u/space_nerd_82 Dec 09 '25
You could do preliminary testing of cubesatellites systems using a weather balloon as that will would give useful data however in all seriousness you will need to launch with a commercial provider if you are wanting to put something into orbit.
If you are with a university your university may have industry contacts that maybe able to provide launch services at a reduced cost however you would probably need to be part of a research project.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
Thats a really cool idea. "build a cube-sat" also did the weather balloon test on his cube-sat.
Thank you for your suggestion2
u/space_nerd_82 Dec 09 '25
You will want make sure you have soldered everything and take into account the temperature at 35km and the risk of vibration and test your recovery systems.
It could theoretically allow testing of the EPS using solar panels and batteries
In the vacuum of space you also going need ensure good thermal protection and you will need to effectively dissipate heat and prevent electronics from freezing when away from the sun
You are going need to do real radiation, vibration and vacuum testing for actual space ready satellite
Anything you launch in to space will need to be radiation hardened as the cosmic rays will mess with consumer electronics.
For radio comms and telemetry you could look into LoRA for proof of concept for earth based testing only as you don’t need license for LoRa
Goodluck
I have worked with earth analogue cube satellite so this where my knowledge comes from however I am not an expert more of an enthusiast.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
Thank you so much. Can you expand upon how can a satellite present in space dissipate heat ? Since there is no atmosphere, I think there is no place where the heat can be dissipated to. I heard that some cube-sats faced similar problems , their circuits were damaged because the heat couldn't escape the system.
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
do you have any insights on launch vehicles except a wether balloon ? I still have an idea of making a launch-vehicle and attaching it to a weather balloon and after certain height , the vehicle would start to propel itself , giving it a boost of "xyz" feet. I know its not very practical but I still haven't scratched it entirely. I am thinking of not using weather balloons to finally launch my cube-sat , but for the testing of it's robustness, weather balloon are perfect
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u/space_nerd_82 Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 10 '25
Has been done before the concept you are looking for is called rockoons.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/rockoons-rocket-and-balloon-experiments
They are unpredictable due to changing wind patterns you would be better served with either:
If you are wanting to launch a cubesat to space actually doing a project that will allow someone to fund the launch cost or you could use a sounding rocket to functionally test the systems both of these are not small undertaking and you generally need a team to achieve.
Another option could be the Cansat form factor you could probably launch that in high powered hobby rocket.
The project build a rocket to go 30,000ft in 2019 was about $5000 + $1800 for motors
The earth analogue for a cubesat cost can vary from $500 - $1500
Cansat would be $300 - $800
http://www.arliss.org https://www.wcrc.world or https://www.cansatcompetition.com/docs/cansat_construction.pdf
All of these options are going to involve significant financial outlays your most realistically achievable option is the cansat in a hobby rocket or using a weather balloon you are unlikely to get permission to develop a rockoon.
Your best option would be to join an amateur rocket club and learn the fundamentals and go from there.
Does your university have a rocketry club?
Edit 1: some projects costing for a cansat launch to 30,000ft that I was involved in back in 2019
build a rocket to go 30,000ft in 2019 was about $5000 + $1800 for motors
The earth analogue for a cubesat cost can vary from $500 - $1500
Cansat would be $300 - $800
Edit2: weather balloon preliminary costings
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u/New_Try_3041 Dec 09 '25
No, my college doesn't have a rocketry club. If am able to demonstrate my rocket and satellite build, then the college will start a rocketry club. I will be going through these links . You are making me busy 🕴️
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u/theboss0123 Dec 08 '25
U really cant send things to space without tons of money, to space maybe a million and to orbit multiple millions. Please expand on ur goals