N Prize

New N Prize interactive team map

2012-01-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

Team status updates

2011-11-20T07:44:00.001-08:00

Most N Prize teams have been inactive on the internet, with limited or no updates. This does not automatically mean that they have not been working, but it is not a good sign. Here are some teams that have been updating regularly:

Kiwi 2 Space has started construction of their test air frame, called "Psycho."

"Psycho was intended as a first liquid rocket flying test bed, but this little beast is still yet to be flown. All plumbing has been completed, with only avionics and recovery needing to be implemented. It is hoped that this will now serve as a static test bed and hopefully fly one day soon. It is of bulkhead and stringer construction with a length of 3m and diameter of 203.2mm and originally intended for a 1334N of thurst (300lbf) lox/kero engine."

After the components are tested on this rocket, the team will go to their next stage, building a "Pickering" flight rocket. Eventually, it looks as if the N Prize rocket will have three Pickering stage 0 rockets, with a core module containing the N Prize rocket. This is one of the most reasonable plans out there right now. Can they finish the final rocket in about 300 days? That seems highly unlikely. To their credit the team has released the following statement:

"!!! News, Kiwi 2 Space is no longer seeking the N-Prize competition (September 2011) !!!
N-Prize

Well the prize deadline has come and gone and been extended another year but is beyond our reach, I've always known it was going to be hard but it was a good initiative to get off the couch to go do something which could make a difference. And yet still could with some ideas I've had over the years. I've always been fascinated by the pump problem that smaller rockets have, more so the complexity etc. for such a small system hence why pressure fed is what you see a lot in smaller sounding rockets. I very much like Flometrics pistonless pump and think its a great idea, but every where I look I see more and more stuff electric, which is the way the world seems to be going, and with the batteries and motors these days, you have some pretty good products on the market. Its not a new idea but a small electric turbo pump for rockets is one thing I'd like to investigate more, I'm no pump man so I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into but if someone could come up with something small and powerfull like this it could change the way for smaller nano sate launchers etc. So this is one future aspiration along with many other things. But the N-Prize has been good in opening my mind and eyes on the world of amateur experimental rocketry and space in general.

I will still continue to build my big rocket, but now at my own pace."

As I stated previously, these projects are more important than just the N Prize.

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Just days after I last checked in with them, Wikisat made major progress with high-altitude balloon flights:

Not only did they make good progress testing at over 100,000 feet, but they also demonstrated a Wikisat launcher, which looks like a tiny rocket based on aluminum cans:

This is exactly the kind of little rocket that I mentioned earlier. An L motor bi-propellant rocket in a soda can would offer very high (ca .9) mass fractions and in near space, would just eat up mach numbers. But it is easy to say that, much harder to actually do it. This would be a two stage rocket, I am not exactly certain where this rocket would start (from a balloon?) If you can get L impulse in the first stage, and J in the upper, you would do well from 100,000 feet. Space certainly. Probably not orbit even under ideal circumstances.

There are a bunch of youtube videos of testing:

"This is the second burn test of the WikiSat second stage. This stage is formed by four granes inside a steel combustion chamber. The nozzle made in aluminum resisted but burned in few milliseconds. The igniter were four small bulbs with black powder inside. Safety margins were respected by WikiSat team in any moment."

Sadly, the team is using black powder in this upper stage. They are clustering four D motors inside of a soda can. This is almost the opposite of what I was discussing above. These motors have ultra-poor mass fractions, will be hard to ignite in the cold of space, and wont work well if they are burning inside of a can. Why bother burning them in a can and then pushing the exhaust through a second nozzle? It doesn't make much sense. Just getting the can to survive the pressure and heat of a good efficient burn is going to be hard, I would say basically impossible. (Maybe a layer of filament CF or FG would do it if wrapped around the outside.) But more importantly, it is not needed. Use soda cans for pressure-fed bi-propellant rockets or hybrid rockets. Or use a conventional rocket motor (such as a 54mm I motor if these stubby dimensions interest you) instead and enjoy vastly better ISP and mass fractions, not to mention reliability. Granted, igniting such a rocket at high altitude will require a burst disk of some sort and ideally a head-end ignition system.

Here is the second stage after a (failed) test:

"That was a try to measure the lateral nozzle thrust but the second stage exploded bue to a failure in the after bulkhead. The micro-valve was blocked. We decided to use cold gas for the first stage control and to use spinning stabilization for the second stage."

And a first stage test using some kind of ex propellant:

"This test was a C1 + acetone burn test inside a Cocacola ZERO can, a bulkhead and a 11 mm hole. A new bulkhead method was tested. Propellant was not solid (Like the sand). Pressure increased due to the not uniform burning area. Bulkheat exploded and propellant was blowed out. The can could be reused. No damages in the flange were found.

Bill of materials

Structure:
- Cocacola can: 23.3 grams
- Bulckhead: 3 grams

Ablative material: 68.4 grams
- Cylinder 60.1 grams
- Backplate 8.3 grams

Propellant mixture: Less than 320 grams
- C1: Less than 270.4 grams
- Resine: Less than 49.6 grams

TOTAL: 330.9 grams"

I see great work with balloons and electronics, but some really confusing rocketry. This team needs to revisit their plans if they are using solid propellants (of any kind) inside of an aluminum can. The can needs to be tested to the operating pressure - hundreds of PSI in most cases, as well as the operating temperatures. The overall mass fraction, isp, and total impulse need to be very good in a satellite launcher. Even my proposed "L in a soda can" motors would not be enough to launch a satellite from a rockoon without many stages. And 4x D12 motors in a soda can, clearly burning under sub-optimal conditions, are not going to cut it. The best bet would be to custom make steel casings of proper strength and load them with high quality APCP. Or better yet, to save time and money, modify an already made CTI motor such as the N 10,000 and fly it from a rockoon. That is one of your best bets for a space flight at this time, short of using much larger and more expensive R,S, or T class motors.

Stay tuned for future updates!

University of Brasilia now an N-prize team!

2011-07-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

http://hybridteam.wordpress.com/

Here are some of the projects from this "hybrid team."

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"The LILE Program is the first project of Hybid Team and the aim was the launch of two small sounding rockets ,began in 2005 , LILE 1 and LILE 2 the first hybrid rockets ever launched in Brazil."

LILE

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"The year is 2005 and The Santos Dumont sounding rocket program begins, a program to develop large aluminum hybrid rockets capable of reaching altitudes as high as 8 km an possessing computer controlled telemetry and parachute recovery systems. The program was divided in to two stages the development of the SD-1 and the SD-2, the first one being a 500N rocket and the second one a 1500N rocket."

SD Project

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"Parallel to the Santos Dumont rocket program a advanced test benches program was developed, this program was aimed in developing versatility rocket test benches capable of generating good experimental material for propulsion studies."

Modular Bench

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We look forward to great things from this team!

-R2K

Team Selene

2011-01-30T02:35:00.001-08:00

"Our Mission

Our team name, “Selene” stems both from Greek mythology and Selene, the wife of the team's founder. We have assembled a talented and enthusiastic group of Chinese and German engineers and technicians who are intent upon winning the Google Lunar X Prize. Our goal is to land a remote-controlled lunar rover on the Moon which must then travel a minimum of 500 meters over the lunar surface, while at the same time, sending high-definition images and video as well as other data back to Earth.

Another purpose of this project is to promote greater co-operation between China and Germany, and to foster the exchange of ideas, a process well underway for many centuries.

We seek to dispel the myth that China's design and engineering prowess is merely the product of reverse engineering, too. There are many young, motivated engineers in both countries who are eager to demonstrate that they can succeed in this mission while contributing innovative high technology inventions and concepts to the broader community of space science and exploration as well as providing support to the ongoing humanitarian efforts to achieve better living conditions here on Earth."

http://www.seleneteam.com/

Armadillo Aerospace going for space

2011-01-29T05:34:00.000-08:00

"Last year we started work on a new vehicle planform, which we're calling the tube rocket. From our perspective it is a Supermod whose 36 inch spherical tanks have been replaced by 15 inch cylindrical tanks with a common bulkhead. Otherwise it is quite similar to our other vehicles; low pressure LOX/alcohol as propellant, regulated helium pressurization, the same type of engine as a Mod, the same engine gimbal and roll vane for guidance and control, and the same computer box and plumbing schematic.

From an external perspective, it's looks like a fairly large liquid fueled sounding rocket. We're using a dual parachute deployment system that would be familiar to anyone in advanced high power rocketry (HPR), adjusted for a rocket that goes rather higher and is quite a bit heavier than most HPR.

We're still definitely working toward a fully reusable VTVL human-carrying vehicle, and the tube rocket acts as a risk reduction step in that direction."

Armadillo

My biggest concern about these competitions is that they focus on Moon landers (a crucial step, and important to work on) but seem to skip the hardest and most important part: actually launching payloads off of the Earth into space and orbit. I suspect that Google picked the lander competition because it is bite sized and produces cool looking footage. Making an orbital challenge, possibly the most important thing Google could do with these teams, would result in lots of crashes. And when it works, the rocket just disappears. In any event, it is good to see this team working towards space.

N prize update

2011-01-29T05:18:00.000-08:00

Wikisat has some interesting (but low rez and not expandable) images of what appears to be a wing for a flying, reusable first stage.

"I hate the thought that 80% of any rocket is not reusable. Hence, I decided to start to design a 2-stage -winged launcher. On the two pictures you can see the lower left half from two different perspectives. I try to lower the Cw as much as possible and to include the fuselage as aerodynamical element."

Space prizes is a blog that has frequent updates about progress in this and other competitions.

If you are new to the N prize, here is where it all got started over at Half Bakery.

Kiwi2Space rockets

2010-10-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

These rockets have not yet been constructed, but they do show a nice set of plans. The Nprize rockets look good enough to get the job done, if they have 2 or 3 stages within that core module, and a good mass fraction.

http://www.kiwi2space.co.nz/

Just under 1 year left!

2010-10-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Update from LMR

2010-06-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

There is a new, huge update from the LMR team. There is an extensive discussion of the practical limitations of a small orbital launch system, with real math! At the end, there are details on a $1000 prize open to "The first person who can prove clearly and to my satisfaction that a 120 kg GLOW launcher cannot put a 20 g payload into orbit (no matter how well it's built) will get $1000 cash."

"Those of you who’ve read my earlier blog entry “Overview of the LMR N-Prize Approach” might be interested in the details of how my decisions and estimates were arrived at. I'm going to cover some of that thought process here; this will hopefully (also) shed some insight into the basic first-pass design of a multistage rocket system."

Little Monster Rocket

Little Monster Update

2010-05-31T17:22:00.001-07:00

Readers may recall the following post section from below:

Little Monster Rocket does not have specific plans, and has not updated this web page in over a year. The FAQ is detailed, however, and contains some interesting discussion. One key question is: "Is the N prize possible?" The authors say yes, comments say "show us the math."

This N prize team has provided me with additional information, and suggested the following links for interested readers:

A detailed interview over at Spacefellowship.com

And also two recent blog posts about the plans:
Blog post 1
Blog post 2

"First, a little about what we're not doing. We're not doing a balloon launch (rockoon), air launch, jet assisted booster, space plane, light gas gun, electromagnetic mass driver, space elevator, nuclear rocket, beamed power-craft, anti-gravity system, teleporter, or any of the more exotic launch concepts."

"Each of our three(3) stages employs a single engine, with two(2)-axis control (gimbaled) – nothing fancy; no clustering. The system is fairly devoid of kludges: no variable thrust differential steering, exhaust vanes, or gas injection schemes; roll control is handled via simple gas jets. All engines are low pressure, including the booster. The third stage engine is roughly 30 psi chamber pressure (or potentially lower), the second stage roughly 60 psi; the booster will run at ~200 psi (or otherwise generally between 150 psi and 250 psi depending on certain experimental factors). The targeted specific impulse for the booster is estimated to be >220 s (sl), >230 s nominally; upper stages are both estimated at >270 s (vacuum).

The entire rocket will be about 75 kg GLOW (or more generally between 50 kg and 100 kg). The ultimate weight depends upon the final parameters of the third stage (the prototypes of which are now at ~560 g (wet mass) including payload, with an approximate 0.8 mass fraction; refer to the LMR-A/S3-HG for an example of one of our experimental third stages*)." Blog post 1

It would be incredible to see such a small rocket fly to orbit, or high altitudes at all. Looking forward to some images in the future!

Team profiles

2009-10-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

With about 500 days left, this looks like a good time to quickly describe the plans of some notable participating teams. In some cases, information is not available, or not complete enough to warrant much discussion. But let's start with an updated list of teams. This list is probably incomplete, but represents the majority of the active teams including some that one should consider at the head of the class, Team Prometheus for example.

If your team is missing from this list, and has a web page, please comment to this post or email me (link at the upper right of the page) so that this list can be updated.

N Prize teams:

Neblua
Epsilon
SARA
Micro Launchers
Potent Voyager
Team Prometheus
Little Monster Rocket
Kiwi 2 Space
QI Spacecraft
Yit Space
Aerosplice
Daedalus Aerospace
Team 9.99
Wikisat
Valkyrie
Thomas Space Corp
The Angel Express

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Neblua Aerospace has a very nice web page, with some images showing test equipment. While quickly browsing, I was unable to find any detailed images or plans for the rocket, however.
The Cerberus rocket is planned to fly with an 8 component aerospike engine.

Epsilon Vee has planned to build a rocket called CESTUS 1, or Common Expendable Space Transportation for Ultra-small Satellites.
This very small rocket is only "8 inches in diameter, roughly 12 feet long, weighing in a some 180 lbs (82 kgs). Primarily 6061 aluminum, lox / propane propellants and ablative engines. It has a payload of a whopping 1 lb (455 g)!" It is unclear if a rocket like this could ever launch payload to orbit, largely because small rockets suffer from severe low atmosphere drag and mass fraction ratios. It should be noted that this rocket has not been built yet, and the latest update here was from 2008.

SARA, the South African Rocketry Association, has some very interesting looking rocket plans. Group platform:

Aims of the South African Rocketry Association

To promote experimental research rocketry in the South Africa.
To promote mathematics and science through rocketry in education.
To promote space science as an industry in South Africa
To encourage affiliation of all interested parties
To reach the altitude of 100km, a first for a private institution in SA.
The rocket on the right, which looks a bit like the NOTS-EV-1 Pilot (NOTSNIK) rocket, appears to be the N prize rocket - perhaps combined with the taller rocket next to it. Details are limited on this, and like on most pages, updates are mostly from 2008.

Micro Launchers has some solid information on their rocket plans. There is a short presentation available on very small rockets. This first rocket is called a cansat launcher, made to launch nano or pico-satellites. This rocket would certainly be the smallest satellite launcher ever used, particularly if it is launched from the ground. The high mass-fraction, high ISP bipropellant stages are a great idea. But, as usual, rockets this small suffer severe drag losses at low altitude. Most updates are several years old.

Potent Voyager has not updated their web page or posted any plans that I have found, since announcing their entry into the n prize competition on 8/8/2008. This seems to be, sadly, a common trend among these teams. What happened in 2009 that made them stop?

Team Prometheus is perhaps the most famous n prize team. They have received a large amount of press, and coverage in hobby rocketry. More importantly, this team has also regularly updated their web page, and made posts in rocketry forums. Recent developments include:

Testing of a tiny satellite transmitter, a ground detection station, and a rotating launch tower. Nothing here is ready for the n prize, but these and other parts will be put to use. A rockoon launch is planned soon, and it will be one of the few amateur rockoon launches ever attempted. Here is footage from a balloon launch to near space:

And an interview:

Little Monster Rocket does not have specific plans, and has not updated this web page in over a year. The FAQ is detailed, however, and contains some interesting discussion. One key question is: "Is the N prize possible?" The authors say yes, comments say "show us the math."

Kiwi 2 Space has some very interesting plans and projects under development. "Our approach to the N-Prize is relatively simple. (I hope!)
We plan on using a 3 stage liquid fuelled rocket to reach low earth orbit, consisting of a pump fed booster (money and time permitting or else we will resort to a pressure fed booster) and liquid fueled upper stages, from which the propellant choice is still yet to be confirmed. The rocket will be ground launched from a mobile launch platform.
The 19.99g satellite will be placed in a 200km high circular orbit with an inclination of 34deg. The size of the rocket will enable us to launch multiple satellites giving us more chance of winning the prize if one is to fail. This added redundancy has been incorporated into the design so the rocket still achieves the required Delta V for orbit. For a 200km circular orbit the satellite needs a Delta V of 7786m/s to stop it dropping out of orbit, so the total rocket Delta V will be in the realms of 9300m/s."

QI Spacecraft has a simple (text only) blog that shows some progress towards a rockoon project. Images would be nice in the next post! (Sadly, the last post was from 2009.)

Yit Space This web page is no longer active, it has been parked.

Aerosplice has some interesting work that revolves around a strategy of using air breathing or air augmented booster stages (pulse jet, ramjet) that do most of the heavy lifting.

"Why is the Aerosplice approach better?

Every second that a conventional rocket burns fuel, it plows through economic resources, and leaves a wake of a destroyed budget behind. Why begin acceleration as a rocket? There are so many options now to reach reasonable speeds at a cost of a thousand times less than that of conventional rockets.

To go from stationary (at rest on the launch pad) to orbital velocity (Mach 25) or even escape velocity (Mach 35) a vehicle must accelerate. Acceleration requires that you continuously burn more fuel or decrease the mass of the rocket continuously. So shouldn't that burnt fuel be as inexpensive as possible to achieve the maximum acceleration and altitude (potential energy)? Of course! Especially if that fuel is as cheap as Kerosene or nearly free in the case of hydrogen produced from sunlight and water.

Currently the conventional rocket fuels of choice are extremely expensive such as liquid Hydrogen/ Liquid Oxygen, Liquid Oxygen/ Kerosene, or Nitrogentetroxide/ Hydrazine. When using conventional rockets most of the vehicle's weight is fuel! 90%! and only a tiny percent is payload, usually between 2% and 5% . That has to Change.

What Aerosplice provides is alternative technologies to the expensive conventional routes to space. Technologies like valveless pulse jets to get the rockets off the launch pads and get them up to speeds between Mach 0.5 and Mach 0.9. Then Ramjets to get the Rockets to speeds greater than Mach 10. Then finally Hydrogen Peroxide based rocket engines to get vehicles into space and beyond. We also do extensive research into Ion, Plasma and Hydrogen Fusion systems for travel between planets and for satellite re-orientation."

Daedalus Aerospace has a Google groups page with some fairly recent updates. Balloon work is one highlight of their "recent" progress.

Team 9.99 has a great looking web page. Sadly, they do not have any further information on this web page!

Wikisat launched a test balloon in 2009, from Spain, but were unable to track or recover it according to the last update on this web page. They have a very interesting, and very tiny electronics package:

Valkyrie has some information about their plans, and updates on some very different topics, but little in the way of specific information.

Thomas Space Corp has a cool picture, but no real web page.

The Angel Express (Te Anahera Tere)

has a simple web page with a statement of intent. They are a rather late entry into the N prize, so perhaps it is somewhat more reasonable that they do not have much information yet.

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It appears, in all honesty, that these N prize teams are for the most part stagnating or falling behind. There is nothing shocking or shameful in this; rocketry is hard, expensive, and for almost everyone, just a hobby. Large projects seldom wind up flying, even projects that are designed to fly a simple hobby rocket to 100,000 feet. Orbit is much harder, and the N prize is very constraining. There is little chance that any team will even attempt a credible N prize launch. Having said that, great benefits can be gained from such a competition even if it is essentially impossible. If Team Prometheus is able to do a few rockoon launches, perhaps culminating in an N-10,000 rockoon flight to space with a camera, that would have made the whole competition worthy of our time and attention.

Stay tuned for further updates.

N Prize

2009-04-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

One can hardly improve upon the many posts and articles regarding the N-Prize, which has now been active for quite some time. We have discussed many of the possible plans and debated everything including the value of such a competition; one that is nearly impossible to complete. But all the same, there have been no substantial posts on this subject here at High Power. Below are some most relevant links, divided into general information and teams. This post will also be placed, along with any future rocketry posts not directly related to the N Prize, at the usual High Power Rocketry Page; High Power Rocketry.

The official rules are:

"The challenge posed by the N-Prize is to launch a satellite weighing between 9.99 and 19.99 grams into Earth orbit, and to track it for a minimum of nine orbits. Most importantly, though, the launch budget must be within £999.99 (about $1500) - and must include the launch vehicle, all of the required non-reuseable launch equipment hardware, and propellant."

The reward is about $15,000, but really the reward is doing something very very hard.

Essential links and media reports:

N-Prize official site
Wiki entry
Google Group
Make article
New Scientist article

Participating teams:

Neblua
Epsilon
SARA
Micro Launchers
CU Spaceflight
Potent Voyager
Team Prometheus
Little Monster Rocket
Kiwi 2 Space
QI Spacecraft
Yit Space
Aerosplice
Daedalus Aerospace

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I would like to finish this brief discussion with my, purely hypothetical proposal to achieve the prize. Many of the above listed teams have great plans, some are traditional and others quite unconventional to say the least.

My plan:

The launch team would prepare a large helium balloon, probably an inexpensive homemade zero pressure balloon suitable for flight to or slightly above 100,000 feet altitude (near space.) -*Update, I have since noticed just how expensive helium is. Either the team may have to brew their own hydrogen, or perhaps use a solar balloon which uses plain air and can only fly to lower altitudes, but at greatly reduced prices. These solar balloons can actually be built very large for a low cost, perhaps allowing for more lift.*- Indeed if possible, 110,000 feet or 115,000 feet would greatly increase performance at little additional balloon costs. Attached to this balloon, large enough to carry approximately 100 lbs. to near space, will be a gondola package, launch tower, and rocket system. The electronics and documentation package will be maximally lightweight, on the order of 1 kg. The launch tower will also be as light as possible, made of carbon fiber or other composites (more on how to avoid the high cost of this item below), and will likely be on the order of 10 feet long. Most importantly, the rocket system will consist of an amateur O motor contained within a very light weight, minimum diameter dart airframe. This should be a high thrust O motor, an O 10,000 would be a suitable choice, or perhaps faster still. The reason for this is to achieve aerodynamic stability quickly in the thin air, which will be assisted by a 5 - 8 rps spin:

The rocket is to be fired at a 45 degree angle. At burnout, this rocket is expected to achieve a velocity of at least 5000 fps. This is, however, far short of what is required for orbit. After a short coast period, sufficient to allow the rocket to achieve an altitude of more than 50 miles, the second and final stage of the launch process will be ignited. However, as a result of the high cost of conventional rocket stages (rapidly pushing the price point over the limit), this 2nd (or perhaps 3rd) stage will consist of a shaped charge:

A powerful conic shaped charge will ignite. At the focus of this shaped charge, there will be a small metallic slug. This slug is to be lunched into orbit. This metal slug will consist of several layers, and will retain a basic useful form as in explosively shaped projectiles (see below.) Within the metal projectile, a burning thermite charge could eject chaff into orbit (for the sake of government assisted tracking), or some gas could be evolved from a filler material that will glow against the night sky and be visible from ground based telescopes. This may be compared to a tracer bullet, though it would have a full thickness of tracking material, sufficient to remain visible for 9 orbits:

This project minimizes to (according to my understanding) the lowest possible disposable cost, given a reasonable and realistic initial investment. The per launch cost, per the prize rules, would consist of the rocket propellant, shaped charge, balloon, and helium (or hydrogen). It is expected that the rocket proper and gondola and tower structure will be recovered. Having said that, it is hard to see how a small rocket launched at a 45 degree angle, into space or near space, could ever be recovered. This flaw may still not break the budget as a complete O motor and rocket could probably be built for a reasonably low cost, less than half of the total budget.

Finally, it should be noted that shaped charges seldom launch solid objects at hypersonic velocity, but in this project, nothing short of 15,000 fps is needed. This would likely be a record, and requires some really smart shaped charge design (if it is possible at all.) It may be that a 2nd or even 3rd stage would be needed to assure orbit. Also, care must be taken to avoid too much velocity, which could cause solar orbit. Perhaps using several stages could allow orbit without a shaped charge, but at what cost and complexity increases? I would welcome any comments about this plan.

This type of small object in orbit, while hardly as useful as a pico-satellite, could still allow for some limited science. The rate of decay of orbit could help refine atmospheric density measurements (as if we need more of that by now). Also, and probably most important, the tiny metal slug would allow for practice tracking very small objects. Perhaps it can help us simulate what happens to space junk after collisions and explosions in LEO, something that sadly may become more common.

Future posts may explore more about individual teams and their attempts.