WHAT WE DO
We compete in the IREC Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition, which is held in New Mexico every June. Last year, for the 2022-2023 school year, we competed and placed 6th in the 30k COTS, or Commercial-Off-The-Shelf, category. For the 2023-2024 school year, we will also compete in the 30k COTS category but with new building and recovery techniques. We hope to continue improving at the competition as we learn more and build upon the skills and knowledge we have gained over the years.
Some of the sub-teams on the Space Cowboys work on valuable research opportunities for the team. It’s a great way for members to gain experience researching and developing systems for our rockets and gives them a chance to use classroom knowledge in real-world applications. We are currently researching a hybrid propulsion system and an airbrake system for our competition as well as a meteorology payload for the payload challenge at the Spaceport America Cup.
Our propulsion sub-team is currently moving forward on hybrid development. They have been designing and developing a new SRAD hybrid for a few years now, learning a lot about the fundamental concepts of rocket propulsion. They are in the process of researching new techniques and technologies for safely testing and launching a hybrid rocket engine. They have started manufacturing and building the hybrid, which they plan to test this year, for competition in the 2024-2025 school year.
Our simulations sub-team is researching and developing an air brake control system for our upcoming hybrid campaign. This brand-new system for the Space Cowboys will precisely control the apogee target for a high-powered rocket’s trajectory. This will pave the way for the development of new methods to make our rocket systems more robust in future years. They look forward to testing the system throughout the year and integrating it into the competition rocket next year.
Our payloads sub-team is designing an experimental payload for competition. This year the team is focused on a CubeSat form factor payload. They will be collecting telemetry throughout the flight; speed, orientation, and attitude; and cross-referencing the data with a radiosonde. This payload will be done in collaboration with the Meteorology department at Mississippi State.
The Space Cowboys readily give back to our community. We work with programs like Brickfire, an after-school program for at-risk youth, as well as local schools and camps in the Starkville area. We help teach local students about Aerospace Engineering, high-powered rocketry, and STEM with hands-on activities. We also work with the MSU Student Association for on-campus events like engineering preview days, tabling events, Dawg Days, and costume carnivals.
The Space Cowboys allows new and existing members to be mentored by fellow teammates in high-powered rocketry. Our mentorship program funds our members' certification efforts with the National Association of Rocketry, NAR. It’s a great way for members to learn about and build their high-powered rocket as well as help others along the building, simulation, inspection, and flight process. We launch our certification rockets yearly from the MSU Dairy Farm just South of campus.
