Project 03

H-Level Rocket: Build & Launch

SUMMER 2026 HIGH-POWER ROCKETRY COMPLETED

Overview

Certifying and launching our first high-power rocket. Full build documented here as it happens: avionics, recovery, data logging, and every setback along the way.

PROJECT SPECS

MOTOR CLASS

H-Class (38mm)

AIRFRAME

2.6" Blue Tube

LAUNCH SITE

Tripoli Houston

LAUNCH DATE

July 11 2026

FLIGHT RESULT

Successful ✓

View Full Flight Report »

Gallery

Launch video: the H-level rocket lifting off at Tripoli Houston

CAD render of the full rocket: a long body tube with three fins at the base

CAD render of the pointed nose cone beside its cylindrical coupler

CAD render of the motor mount tube with centering rings and three fins

The nose cone and coupler laid out on the Prusa MK4S build plate in the slicer

Members fitting black 3D-printed fins to the rocket body tube at a workbench

Blue Tube airframe in a yellow 3D-printed slot-cutting jig next to the motor mount and fins

Six club members smiling around the garage workbench during the rocket build

Club members gathered around the workbench in the garage shop

Club members working in the garage with a laptop on a toolbox

The rocket in progress, with a black nose cone and blue airframe, standing upright

Close-up of the rocket's fin can with three black fins

Close-up of epoxy fillets along the fin roots and the aft end of the motor mount

Arduino flight data logger wired up on a breadboard

Five club members standing in a row at the launch field, one holding the white rocket at an angle, with Texas and U.S. flags behind them

Members and a range volunteer sliding the rocket onto a launch rail lying flat on the pad

A member and a range volunteer raising the launch rail with the rocket mounted on it

A member and a range volunteer making final checks at the base of the vertical launch rail

Flight 1 altitude chart: measured barometer data peaking at 575 m versus the OpenRocket simulation

Build Log