Follow DARE’s rocket launch live

Update: The launch of Stratos II+ has been delayed to Thursday the 15th of October. The countdown rehearsal performed on Tuesday revealed too many unresolved issues.

It has cost about a year, many a night’s worth of sleep, and maybe some have gained some grey hairs, but here it finally is: The Stratos II+; ready for launch. DARE will launch the second ‘Stratos’ rocket, designed, produced and assembled by students. The rocket will be launched from El Arenosillo, Spain, and can be followed with a live stream here (be patient, loading takes a few minutes). Then, we will find out whether the work of the past 5 years result in a succesful launch to 50 km altitude. Are you going to watch?

Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering (DARE) is one of the most advanced amateur rocketry clubs in the world. It is a group of ambitious students sharing a passion for rocket science. They dream of reaching space at 100 km altitude. Within DARE, rockets that serve a scientific and educational purpose are designed, built and launched. DARE has 130 student members, with another 80 alumni and extraordinary members.

History of Stratos I, II and II+

In 2007 a number of DARE members decided that it was needed to show what DARE as an organization was capable of. The knowledge was there to start the Stratos project with the goal of breaking the European altitude record for amateur rocketry. This led to the launch of Stratos I in 2009 from Esrange, Sweden. The two-stage KNO3-sorbitol rocket that reached 12.3 km altitude.

After Stratos I was launched successfully, it was a logical consequence to continue and the Stratos II project was started. This happened in the spring of 2010. The goal of Stratos II is to carry a scientific payload to an altitude of 50 km. In 2014 DARE attempted to launch the Stratos II. Unfortunately, the rocket suffered a misfire due to a leak in the oxidiser feed system occurred. As a result of this leak, the main valve between the oxidiser tank and combustion chamber froze shut. So after a successful ignition, the engine did not fire up.

Now, with the lessons learned from the Stratos II launch campaign DARE decided to get back to the drawing board. Here they put the obtained experience to use. Over the course of the last year, DARE addressed bottle necks, redesigned critical components, and performed more and new tests of the different subsystems. Due to the amount of changes and improvements in the design, DARE felt the new rocket deserved a new designation, so it was rechristened Stratos II+.