KARMAN BRAVO
Altitude record attempt – the latest rocket in our “Karman Series”
About
Project Sunride’s Karman Series of rockets aims to push to higher and higher altitudes, with the goal of eventually reaching the Karman Line (100 km).
In July 2023, the team launched “Karman Alpha“, the first rocket in this series. This was followed in June 2024 by “Karman Bravo”. Both rockets were launched at Friends of Amateur Rocketry – a launch site in the Mojave Desert, California.
Like Karman Alpha, Bravo is a two-stage rocket. Bravo is simpler to assemble, and cheaper to manufacture. The rocket is more optimised for high altitudes, with a smaller diameter upper stage.
Final checkout of avionics before launch
Team photo with the rocket prior to launch
Carrying the rocket to the launch pad
Launch – 16th June 2024
Karman Bravo had a predicted apogee of around 37 km (120,000 feet).
Unfortunately, towards the end of the booster motor burn, whilst travelling at Mach 1.6 (1200 mph), one of the commercial flight computers deployed the sustainer’s drogue parachute early. This shredded the drogue parachute and meant the rocket only reached around 2500m.
This was especially unfortunate as the team had worked very hard to get the rocket ready for launch – this included 4 test flights in the UK of a 1:1 scale “Karman Bravo Mock” rocket.
On the bright side, the resulting crash of both stages wasn’t as destructive as Karman Alpha’s, as both motor casings and all flight computers were recovered intact.
The team intends to relaunch Karman Bravo in 2024/25…
Test launches in the UK – Karman Bravo Mock
Karman Bravo Mock is a two-stage test vehicle and has been launched a total of four times in an attempt to ready the systems for the launch of Karman Bravo in summer 2024.
The team launched the Karman Bravo Mock rocket for the third time in May 2024 at Midland Rocketry Club. It was launched to test the avionics and recovery systems in their final configuration in preparation for the launch of Karman Bravo in June 2024. It was also a test for integration and assembly so that we could verify our systems could be easily assembled and verified to work prior to launch.
The team continues to carry out test launches of Karman Bravo Mock as they prepare for relaunch of Karman Bravo in 2024/25
