Above: 60% scale of our “Mamba” flight motor
3500 lb·s of total impulse at 1000 psi
April 2023
As you begin your journey at CU Boulder, we, the members of CU Sounding Rocket Lab, warmly welcome you. College isn't just about academics; it's also about exploring passions and finding your place in the vibrant community. If you seek challenges, innovation, and a close-knit team, come get involved! As part of the team, you'll work with faculty and fellow students on projects pushing aerospace technology's boundaries. Join us, where your ideas, curiosity, and dedication matter. Together, we'll soar and ignite your passion for space exploration. Join SRL and reach for the stars!
Who We Are
The CU Sounding Rocket Laboratory (CUSRL) is one of the largest student research and development organizations at CU and is a premier amateur rocketry group in the state of Colorado. CUSRL provides an environment where, through hands-on, in-depth engineering projects, CU students have the opportunity to work collaboratively throughout the entirety of the engineering process. Through this process, SRL members develop technical and leadership skills, as well as experience with regard to the practical side of engineering, which has been proven to help SRL members become valuable engineers and contributors to a vast array of disciplines within the industry.
Obsidian Flight Vehicle
Launched to 33,000 ft and Mach 2.02
April 2, 2022
Watch the Launch Here
We design, we build, we test, fly, redesign, rebuild, retest, refly. We move fast. We are not afraid to break things. We build each other up as engineers, and develop invaluable connections.
We work with both solid and liquid rocket propellants. We make our own solid rocket propellant and our own custom avionics systems. We help dozens of members achieve their level 1 high power rocketry certification each year. We manufacture our own parts in the machine shops.
We are SRL
What We Do
Current Projects
Mamba
Mamba is our 6” diameter flight vehicle meant to be a stepping stone between our 4” “Obsidian” flight vehicle and our 10” “Spaceshot” flight vehicle.
Mamba will serve as a proving ground and testbed for numerous in-house technologies including but not limited to:
● Custom composite propellant. ● Composite-cased motors ● Fully Custom Avionics ● Airframe and motor TPS solutions
Designed and built by the following sub-teams: ● Solid Propulsion ● Avionics. ● Composites Manufacturing ● Vehicle Design
Mamba’s flight profile will bring it to at least 100k feet and past Mach 3.6 which will allow us to test the functionality and survivability of our equipment before our next flight vehicle which will be going nearly 400k feet and Mach 5+.
Boomslang
Boomslang is an ethanol-fueled, nitrous oxide oxidized rocket that will launch 10,000+ feet. This project will provide insight into the efficiency of the fill system, thrust characterization, and much more!
Major components of this rocket, including the pintle injector, fuel/oxidizer tank, test stand, and airframe, are manufactured entirely by students in these.
Sub-teams: ● Mission Control/Test Stand ● Propulsion ● Fluid System
Some of the major goals of the Boomslang rocket are:
1. Complete multiple static fires before and after launch to fully characterize the thrust performance of the system.
2. Develop higher standards of safety with respect to high-pressure systems, oxidizer transportation, and fill/vent procedures.
3. Go as high as possible! (as per the dollar-per-foot challenge)
The Future of SRL
Spaceshot
Launching Spring 2024
Spaceshot will be our rocket designed to break not only the Kármán line (100 km), but to break the collegiate rocketry altitude record (~100 km) by at least 10 km. The goal of SRL since its inception has been to bring payloads on a suborbital flight out of the atmosphere at a cheap price for university researchers and student organizations. There has only been one team to break the Kármán line but we hope to be right behind them and be the first team to break the Kármán line with 100% certainty.
CPLC Quick Description coming soon
Photo Credit: SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing