Rocket

In development

N-4 rocket (2024)

The N-4 rocket is currently developed to join the worldwide rocketry competition Spaceport America Cup (SRAD/Solid/10,000 feet).

More information will be updated.

Specification

Rocket N-4
Airframe material Fiberglass
Length 2.54 m
Outer diameter 109 mm
Dry mass 13.1 kg
Total mass 25.8 kg
Simulated apogee 3,540 m
Propellant KNSB (M2410 motor)

Technical report (coming soon)

  • Airframe documentation
  • Propulsion documentation
  • Recovery documentation

N-3.5 rocket (2024)

The N-3.5 rocket has similar specifications to the previous N-3 rocket. However, much redesign and reinforcement were made to improve the performance.

Remarkable upgrades were made to the casing of the solid rocket motor, the joint section between the solid rocket motor and airframe, and the parachute ejection mechanism using pyrotechnics. All those components were successfully evaluated through several ground tests before the actual flight.

The N-3.5 rocket was the Nakuja's first high-power rocket to achieve an apogee greater than 1,000 m during the test flight.

Specification

Rocket N-3.5
(Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta)
Airframe material Aluminum
Length 172 cm
Internal diameter 76 mm
External diameter 78.6 mm
Dry mass 6.655 kg
Total mass 8.747 kg
Simulated apogee 1,650 m
Propellant KNSB
Simulated total impulse 2,976 [N•s] (L1305 motor)
Total impulse from the static test 2,773 [N•s]

Launch history

  1. May 8, 2024 (Report PDF)

Technical report

  • Airframe documentation (PDF)
  • Recovery documentation (PDF)
  • Propulsion documentation (PDF)

N-3 rocket (2023)

The N-3 rocket improves on several issues experienced with the N-2 rocket, including a parachute with improved reliability, on-board flight logging, and a comprehensive redesign of the airframe and launch pad.

The solid rocket motor uses KNSB, as on the N-2 rocket, and the apogee has been upgraded to 1,600 meters.

Specification

Rocket N3-F
(Simba, Kifaru)		 N3-A
(Tembo, Kabura)
Airframe material Fibreglass Aluminum
Length 192 cm 200 cm
Diameter 86 mm 82 mm
Dry mass 5.1 kg 5.1 kg
Total mass 10.5 kg 10.5 kg
Simulated apogee 1,636 m 1,637 m
Propellant KNSB (K1149 motor)
Simulated total impulse 2,104 [N•s]

Launch history

  1. January 30, 2024 (Report PDF)

Internship report

The presentation for the final presentation is here. PDF (6.3MB)

Tembo
Kabura
Kifaru

N-2 rocket (2022)

The N-2 rocket aims to bring the payload up to 500m altitudes. The casing and the nozzle of the solid rocket motor are made with mild steel, and the fuselage is made with the fiberglass. It will demonstrate the performance of the flight controller to stabilize the rocket using reaction wheel and active canard fins. The payload camera records the video during flight. The payload is recovered by a parachute and telemetry system using GPS.

Due to the higher apogee, the launch was conducted based on the assistance from the Kenya Space Agency (KSA).

Tana

⏺ Propellant: KNSB (I229 class 50mm SRM. Simulated total impulse 503 N•s)

⏺ Diameter: 56mm

⏺ Airframe material: Fibreglass

⏺ Attitude control mechanism: Reaction wheel

⏺ Recovery procedure: Automatic ejection

Perkerra

⏺ Propellant: KNSB (I229 class 50mm SRM. Simulated total impulse 503 N•s)

⏺ Diameter: 75mm

⏺ Airframe material: Fibreglass

⏺ Attitude control mechanism: Active canard fins

⏺ Recovery procedure: Automatic ejection

Galana

⏺ Propellant: KNSB (I229 class 50mm SRM. Simulated total impulse 503 N•s)

⏺ Diameter: 56mm

⏺ Airframe material: Fibreglass

⏺ Attitude control mechanism: none

⏺ Recovery procedure: Manual ejection by the command from ground station

Launch history

  1. November 23, 2022
  2. April 22, 2022 (Low altitude test flight. Report article on blog)

Internship report

The presentation for the final presentation is here. PDF (3.8MB)

N-1 rocket (2021)

N-1 rocket is our first rocket powered by a solid rocket motor that uses sugar and potassium nitrate as the propellant. The airframe is 3D printed and equips the minimum required flight electronics. Through the development of the N-1 rocket, we aimed to acquire basic rocketry techniques and establish a safety launch sequence.

Specification

⏺ Length: 99.6 cm

⏺ Simulated total weight: 1.28 kg

⏺ Simulated apogee: 285 m

⏺ Airframe material: PLA (3D printed)

⏺ Propellant: KNSU (G146 class 40mm SRM)

⏺ Simulated total impulse: 110 N•s

Launch history

  1. April 20, 2021
  2. May 3, 2021 (Recorded apogee: 34m)
  3. May 7, 2021

Report

The presentation for the final presentation is here. PDF (2.1MB)