Elon Musk watch out: Teen aces SpaceX-like vertical rocket landing in 3 yrs

The vertical landing of a rocket has been a challenging task for major space-related companies. Some of them even took half a dozen years to accomplish the feat. However, a teenager’s model rocket has successfully performed the vertical landing only three years after the first attempt.

The original rocket design conducted first successful vertical landing on July 5. The low-altitude flight landed immediately after being launched. The rocket landing was vertically well-positioned and rocket appeared to be stable.

Aryan Kapoor, who is currently a student at Montgomery High School, explained that Rather than using fins for stability and a parachute for descent like a typical model rocket, his rocket used thrust vector control which involves gimbling the rocket motor to keep the orientation of the vehicle stable. This is the same approach used by most orbital class rockets.

Setup is far simpler than what powers a full-sized rocket

Three years back, Kapoor started JRD (Junior Research and Development) Propulsion, which has been aiming to land a model rocket propulsively by utilizing custom hardware and software.

“After witnessing several model rocket landing attempts on youtube, I wanted to achieve what I saw for myself,” said Kapoor . “Before coming into the project, I had never laid hands on a model rocket and had never coded before. I knew that by undergoing this project , I would learn many of the necessary skills for pursuing engineering and other projects.”

While Kapoor’s setup is simpler than what powers a full-sized rocket, it still works using similar principles. An onboard flight computer, equipped with a microcontroller and sensors like a barometer and accelerometer, manipulates servo motors that pivot the engine housing, which is attached to a gimbal, reported Hackster .

Custom flight control software used

Rocket’s movements were controlled by a custom flight control software, which put the craft in a stable flight path. The ascent motor is ejected after being exhausted with the help of a pair of springs.

After a successful liftoff, the altimeter lets the rocket’s computer know when to eject the first propellant and switch over to the second motor for its controlled descent.

To stick the landing, Kapoor attached much longer legs than a standard model—with some creative adaptations. Each leg is rigged with a repurposed syringe and rubber bands that serve as shock absorbers, enabling the rocket to further dampen its landing, according to Popular Science .