Mamba
Mamba is SRL’s first fully custom rocket, meant to test and prove the necessary technologies for our future spaceshot.
The Mamba project began in 2023, with 3 Mamba rockets built and flown from Fall 2023 to Fall 2025.
Mission Requirements:
Vehicle shall fly on and prove fully custom solid propellant and a custom composite cased motor
Vehicle shall experience sufficient thermal loading to offer insight into Spaceshot thermal protection systems
Vehicle shall experience similar structural loading to that expected on a Spaceshot
Vehicle shall demonstrate successful high-altitude dual deployment recovery
Project Status: All Objectives Met
Mission Accomplished
Mamba Mission Patches
SUCCESFULLY LAUNCHED OCTOBER 12th, 2025
The vehicle nominally liftoff from the Friends of Amateur Rocketry launch site in California and was successfully recovered using telemetry from both commercial and custom onboard flight computers.
MAMBA III
89,800 ft
Peak Mach Apogee
3.36
Peak Mach Number
Stainless Steel Tip
Mamba’s nosecone is capped with a 315 Stainless Steel tip which protects the vehicle from intense aero-thermal heating present at three times the speed of sound.
Thermal Protection System
The majority of our nosecone is protected from aerodynamic heating with a layer of P-50 cork.
Structure
Internally, Mamba’s nosecone consists of fiberglass fabric and sleeves oriented in specific directions that reenforces the structure.
On-Board Camera
Descent of Mamba III
Avionic Bay
Three independent flight computers for redundancy, among them being the PHOENIX flight computer developed by our avionics team. Their role is to deploy the drogue and main parachutes at the correct altitude.
Aluminum Bulkhead
Acts as both the forward enclosure of the solid rocket motor and the attachment point of the drogue chute shock chord.
Filament Wound Motor Casing
Manufactured with SRL’s own composite filament winder, the casing is made of Carbon Fiber wound at a 55 degree angle.
Vehicle Sizing Info
6” Diameter
12.2 ft Total Length
6.5 ft Casing Length
20” Root Length of Fins
Custom APCP Solid Rocket Motor
4 solid fuel grains casted into phenolic infused aramid liners, totaling to a Q-class rocket motor.
CNC Launch Lugs
Guides the rocket while it’s still on the launch rail during the first seconds of flight.
Aluminum Leading Edge
Protects the base carbon fiber fins from aero-thermal heating.
Tip-to-Tip Fin Layup
Mixed carbon fiber/fiberglass layup which aids fin stiffness.
LE Phenolic Nozzle
With graphite throat to resist the erosion from the exhaust gasses.
Motor Performance
10.17 second burn
2660 lbf Peak Thrust
81.75 lbm of Solid Propellant
MAMBA III Photos & Media
CU Aerospace News Article
Mamba II
Mamba II attempted to launch on April 21st, 2024 at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in California. Moments after ignition, the motor suffered a catastrophic failure which resulted in the complete loss of the vehicle.
SRL has identified the root cause to be the deficient quality propellant. In the time since, the team has worked hard to develop procedures to both improve our manufacturing of propellant and our quality control process. In addition, SRL has worked closely with the Ann & H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department to develop better safety protocols and reliability checks for all of our subsystems.
Mamba I
Mamba I was launched on February 3rd, 2024, at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry field in the Mojave Desert, California. Approximately three seconds after motor ignition, the nosecone experienced a structural failure due to aerodynamic drag at Mach 3, causing the rocket to spiral off course. Despite this setback, the rocket was recovered with the majority of the structures intact and the electronics still operational.
Aside from the nosecone failure, the motor behaved nominally and confirmed its design and performance. From this experience, the team identified the root cause and redesigned the nose cone layup to eliminate the failure mode.
