Pocket Rocket

Pocket Rocket stemmed from an idea I had during my first year at the University of Washington. Observing and working on so many innovative systems for the Society for Advanced Rocket Propulsion (SARP) made me question if there was a better way to test complicated hardware in flight before strapping it on a rocket headed toward the Karman Line. At the time we were developing a cold gas reaction control system, a propulsively landed payload, and an autonomous recovery system. Understanding the importance of these systems (aside from the payload) for future launches to space, I believed there was a cheap, reliable, and simple solution to testing these systems under flight conditions. After pitching my ideas to the senior administrative board of SARP, a new division of the organization was created, with me at the helm. The goal was to lead a team of entirely freshman and sophomore undergraduate students in the development of a cheap and re-flyable testbed vehicle capable of reliably and rapidly flying experimental hardware in a short time-scale. With that, Pocket Rocket was born.

A system capable of rapidly reflying test hardware had to be rugged enough to take a beating on top of any aerodynamic or mechanical loading the rocket would experience during flight. In addition, the vehicle would have to accommodate a variety of payloads, and sometimes more than one at a time. My goal was to design a modular rocket with high factors of safety and structural margins, with various configurations to accommodate different payloads. In addition, each part would be designed for simple manufacturing operations to allow for the quick and cheap production of spare parts to hot swap if the rocket did sustain damage. This would enable high launch cadence, even if parts were badly damaged and needed to be replaced.

Working with such short deadlines was difficult. I worked on average 30 hours per week on this rocket, on top of taking a full course load. I dedicated my entire life to making this program succeed. At one point I worked for nearly 60 hours straight, only taking short breaks for showers or 30 minute naps to ensure we had a successful design review.

When it came time to manufacture this rocket, time was incredibly limited. As always, I put my nose to the ground to ensure the success of this program. For 2 weeks straight, I lived in machine shops, bouncing around four shops on campus from 8am to 8pm. When the shops closed, I would go home and develop additional manufacturing plans or continue making parts in my backyard. One night I had performed a fiberglass layup at 2 am to validate a process needed to join two halves of our nosecone. The nosecone layup was then practiced the following morning at 8 am, with phenomenal success.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of my team alongside me, the entire manufacturing cycle of Pocket Rocket was completed in less than two weeks.

Pocket Rocket was successfully closed out in June of 2023. A rocket capable of flying experimental hardware, crashing and flying again the next day was now in SARP’s “arsenal”.

Leading this team could not have been better experience. As chief engineer of a team of solely underclassman (as a sophomore myself), I had to learn and implement new knowledge every day. Starting with an idea and bringing it into reality allowed my technical knowledge and intuition for a all parts of a design cycle to grow immensely.

Leading this team was educational in more than just a technical sense however. I conquered my fear of failing, by frequently making and revising mistakes. I developed an incredibly strong will to persevere through any adversity, and work through or around any problem I encountered. Most importantly, I learned the complexities of being a strong and motivating leader through teaching my peers fundamental principles in rocket design and manufacturing.