Renegade was a rocket designed, manufactured, tested, and flown during the lockdown of COVID-19. It was designed to fly in the 10K COTS division of the Spaceport America Cup, which was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic. However, as a show of the club’s tenacity and dedication to the work we have done, the club continued to work until Renegade was launched in North Branch, MN, in late April 2021. This flight went very well, resulting in the safe recovery of the vehicle.
This rocket included brand new methods/technologies developed by the team to assist in a more perfect flight and recovery. A replaceable fin can was designed and implemented because the fins are the most fragile part of a rocket. Student-designed, developed, and manufactured airbrakes flew successfully and enabled us to hit our altitude goal. Finally, a new parachute “reefing” device was designed and implemented on Renegade, allowing the team to use only one parachute instead of two, saving on weight and failure points.