UCC students aim to scale greater heights with new rocket society

With the surge in interest in space exploration, it is no surprise that groundbreaking developments are being made by UCC students to keep Cork at the forefront.

After months of hard work and petitioning, the newly-established Rocketry and Space Exploration Society is set to become an official society at the start of next term.

As UCC’s newest engineering society, they have a shared vision to design, build and launch rockets, and to provide real-world engineering experience to all the students of UCC.

The idea took shape 16 months ago between Michael Moynihan, Darren Moynihan, and Leo Healy, who shared the question: ‘Do you want to build a rocket?’

That single idea led to a small but dedicated engineering group being formed. It quickly grew to about 20 members, from disciplines such as engineering, physics, and computer science.

Development of their first rocket, named Icarus, started in late April last year, and significant assistance was provided by the other rocketry teams in UL and Queens, who were well established.

The UCC engineering department also chipped in, giving advice, access to facilities, and funding the new team.

Icarus was launched on February 15 this year in Curraghmore Estate, Waterford. It was a momentous day for the group, as it was the deciding factor on whether the months of work would pay off.

Thankfully, the launch was a complete success, despite the crash landing in a nearby tree.

The rocket was later recovered almost unscathed, bar a tail fin taking the brunt of the fall.

The launch wasn’t just a technical milestone, it showed that the students and the engineering group in UCC had the interest, dedication, and know-how to create this society.

However, forming a society is no easy feat.

Even with the experience of launching a fully-fledged rocket under the group’s belt, it still proved difficult to get the UCC society’s office to agree to the new society.

It took months of back-and-forth emails, signed letters of recommendation from the heads of several societies, and a petition that gathered more than 300 signatures in just under five hours before the office agreed to the formation.

This all happened in early April. Consequently, there will be no official UCC funding until the start of next semester.

This has not stopped the team, however, as it has been full steam ahead in their development of their next rocket, called Prometheus.

Prometheus is being constructed for the participation in Mach25 - a rocketry competition due to be held in Scotland in July this year, where teams from all over Ireland and the UK participate.

Prometheus is planned to reach a maximum height of two kilometres.

The rocket is already almost completed. The main body is constructed, painted, and all parts have been ordered. As well, all updates on the rocket’s journey in construction are being documented on their Instagram, @uccrocketrysociety.

There were, of course, challenges in the construction of Prometheus. While generous, there were some budget constraints with just the money provided by the Engineering Department.

The rocket components all had to be shipped from Italy, which, on top of taking months to arrive, also cost a significant amount.

Alternatives to certain parts were investigated. Eventually, it was decided to 3D print the nose cone and fins. This saved valuable money and time. Fortunately, many members of the team had access to top-of-the-line 3D printers.

These designs were tested on Icarus. They proved to be a big success and capable of being used on Prometheus, saving money and giving the team valuable experience.

The group isn’t all about launching rockets. There is a big push and commitment for raising awareness about the space exploration industry on campus.

There are plans to host talks from people throughout the industry, including representatives from SpaceX, Nasa, and Réaltra, open to all students in UCC.

Regular newsletters will be sent out to cover what is happening in space exploration. There are even talks about a potential donation of real rocket parts to UCC for display in the physics building on the main campus.

As the time ticks closer to the launch of Prometheus, the Rocketry and Space Exploration Society is hard at work.

They are setting the groundwork for many future generations of aspiring rocketeers and starting off UCC’s rocketry journey with a bang.

With many planned launches, events, and outreach programmes, they plan to make UCC the centre of student made innovation and ingenuity in the aerospace industry.