High Power Rocketry
High Power Rocketry (HPR) is where hobby rockets graduate to real engineering systems: high-thrust solid motors, engineered airframes, and avionics that log altitude, vibration, acceleration, and recovery events you can’t hand-wave. It’s propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, and software working together, validated by real atmosphere and real telemetry.
For me, it started with National Association of Rocketry launch days and snowballed into the long road to Level 1 and Level 2 certification. One rocket got lost in a field. One is flying higher, smarter, and cleaner.
Below is the fleet that have been built, flown, and improved.
Soymilk – Level 1 & Level 2 Rocket
Soymilk is my current high power build and the one carrying me through Level 1 and Level 2 certification. It runs on bigger motors, tighter design choices, and avionics that actually get tested before flight. The airframe is stronger, the recovery is dual-deployment, and the tracking is redundant because walking into a field blind once was enough character development for a lifetime. This rocket is where my workflow changed from experimental to intentional. Every flight adds data, every test adds confidence, and every iteration adds a little more respect for the process and the punch of a solid motor.
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Airframe: PVC plastic, Phenolic
3D Printed Components: PLA
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Altimeter: Altus Metrum Easy Mini (x2 for dual redundancy)
GPS: Silicdyne Fluctus
Camera: Runcam 6
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Supported Motor Classes: 38mm/54mm sizes of H, I, J
The following numbers were tested on a I300T motor:
Max. Altitude: 2100 ft
Max. Velocity: Mach 0.4
Max. Acceleration: 17 g’s
Soymilk – Level 1 Certification Attempt
Purple Rain – Level 1 Rocket
Purple Rain was my first real swing at high power certification. Bright purple paint, big motors, big goals, and a launch that taught me more than a perfect flight ever would. I lost the rocket in a soy field, but the real mission came back with me: learning recovery systems the hard way, understanding that analysis matters most when hardware is on the line, and realizing that every “uh oh” moment is just unpaid tuition. Purple Rain earned its place by pushing me forward, even when the landing spot had other plans.
