Project Sparkmaker

Project Sparkmaker is a high-power project with the goal of consistently flying rockets past Mach 1, the speed of sound and learning about their flight characterisitcs. Project Sparkmaker takes everything that I learned from Project 767 and uses it to optimize newer rockets to fly faster than I have flown anything before. The major goals of this project are:

  • Achieve speeds higher than Mach 1 (343 m/s or 767 mph)

  • Consistently recover rockets in flightworthy condition

  • Fly and test a miniaturized data recorder

  • Gain more high-power experience

  • Learn more about supersonic rocket design

  • Record data from multiple supersonic flights

Project Sparkmaker is a personal project, but I will likely launch many flights with Purdue Space Program!

Progress Reports

March 22, 2025: Finishing Construction

During spring break, I have been working on finishing up Sparkmaker II! I finished assembling the airframe and gave it a new paintjob! The paintjob is inspired by my Hermes rocket and uses Purdue black and gold colors. The rocket is now ready to fly once I find a time to launch it! These pictures show Sparkmaker II by itself as well as it next to Harrier 2B for comparison. Also present is a spent I500T motor I used for construction and fit checks — this is the same type of motor that will propel Sparkmaker II to supersonic speeds! Due to its much smaller size and mass, Sparkmaker can break the sound barrier with a much less-powerful engine while Harrier 2B needs a J435WS motor to achieve the same goal.

January 10, 2025: Making Sparks

While I have been at home during winter break after an amazing first semester at Purdue, I have been hard at work printing and assembling parts of my new Sparkmaker II rocket! This rocket uses many lessons that I learned from building my Harrier rockets. Sparkmaker II is designed to have a small profile so that it can easily move through the air at high speeds. The airframe is also made to extremely simple and has very few parts. In addition to this, Sparkmaker II also makes use of an improved shock cord mound and a redesigned engine mount!