KARMAN CHARLIE
About
Karman Charlie is the third rocket in our Karman Series of rockets, coming after “Karman Alpha” and “Karman Bravo“.
Like the the previous Karman rockets, this is also a two-stage, using solid rocket motors. It features a booster made of composite materials and a fully aluminium sustainer.
Karman Charlie launched at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in California on 22nd June 2025
Launch – 22nd June 2025
Karman Charlie had a target apogee of 100,000ft and a predicted apogee of over 140,000ft.
The first stage ignited and lifted off successfully. Unfortunately, the booster recovery bay drag-separated prematurely, resulting in the recovery system deploying whilst travelling at high speed and the booster detaching from its parachute. The second stage failed to ignite but proceeded to detect apogee at 16,909ft and achieve a nominal recovery. No damage was sustained to this stage and all sections of the first and second stages were recovered from the desert.
Fortunately, all the electronics were recovered intact and the on-board camera captured stunning footage throughout the flight.
UK test launches
A test rocket – Karman Charlie Mock, was built to test the configuration and on-board systems of Karman Charlie.
It was launched in the UK twice as a single stage and three more times in two-stage configuration. Though the first sustainer launch experienced a recovery failure, all subsequent launches were fully successful.
The team’s launches at the Midlands Rocketry Club and the East Anglia Rocketry Society verified the overall design, and helped finalize launch operations, as well as giving the launch crew plenty of practice launching and recovering the rocket.
