Rocket community ready for take off

The sky is (not) the limit for a group of ambitious rocketeers from UCC who are working to establish an all-Ireland student rocketry society.

The UCC Rocketry and Space Exploration Society was established this year and is largely made up of physics and engineering students.

Aside from designing, building, and launching their own rockets, the group’s goal is to spread the good word and get as many people interested in the field as possible.

Finance officer and cofounder, Leo Healy said he always knew he wanted to work in the space industry.

“When we first started our group, I was amazed to hear that there were already similar initiatives happening in UL, Queens, Dublin, and all across the UK and Europe,” said the third year electrical engineering student.

He continued: “It’s surprising how many different disciplines can be incorporated into just one rocket. Some people specialise in the aerodynamics and structural integrity of the airframe, others are working out the chemistry for the combustion of the fuel and oxidiser in the combustion chamber, and then you need people to work on the electronics and programming of the flight computer.”

With interest amongst Irish students higher than ever, Leo and his colleagues are eager to get the message out there that rocketry and space exploration is a viable career path in Ireland and beyond.

He said: “The main thing that I really want people to know about rocketry is there is a much lower barrier to entry than you would think.

“We also would love to get more people involved who aren't from engineering/STEM backgrounds at all.”

In its first year of existence, the UCC Rocketry and Space Exploration Society has already successfully launched and recovered two ‘launch vehicles’. The first, Icarus, was launched in Co. Waterford and reached an apogee of around 300m. Their second vehicle, Prometheus, was launched last month in the Mach 25 Competition in Scotland and reached an apogee of 2.2km.

Leading up to a launch, Leo and his colleagues are a bag of nerves right up until lift off when, if successful, nerves turn to sheer jubilation.

He explained: “As you count down for the launch, time does slow down. Considering your head’s everywhere before a launch, it's amazing how present and in the moment you become in the seconds before the actual launch.

“Watching the rocket launch is incredible, they typically reach max speeds around the speed of sound, so the rocket literally disappears behind the clouds in like five-ish seconds,” added Leo.

Looking ahead, Leo and his colleagues are hoping to bring collaboration between Ireland’s universities to new levels. Their goal is to establish an all-Ireland rocketry/space exploration society called EireSEDS (Eire Space Exploration and Discovery Society), similar to the UKSEDS across the water.

Leo said: “Currently the space industry is growing rapidly, particularly in the private sector due to factors such as reduced launch costs through reusable rockets and other technologies.

“We are seeing an explosion in rocketry societies across Ireland which hasn't really been seen before.

“There has never been this good a level of communication and cooperation between the teams in Ireland.

“We are trying to get as many societies across Ireland involved as possible, and we are really looking forward to what we can achieve in this coming year!” he added.

Asked why it’s crucial that mankind continues to explore space, Leo said exploring the unknown is hardwired into humans, not to mention the pivotal role space exploration has played in the development of many modern technologies.

He said: “We have gained invaluable information in a wide range of scientific fields that we never would have been able to figure out (or at least would have been significantly harder to figure out) had we not studied planets, asteroids, stars, orbits, etc.

“I think it's very easy these days to fall into a very negative view of the current state of the world and our future, but to me space exploration will always be a pillar of optimism and hope that I feel we should put a lot more focus on,” Leo concluded.