Top result for university group HyEnD in European rocket competition

Just a few seconds after launch, it was clear that this would be a great flight: LUMINA, the first self-developed liquid rocket by the student group Hybrid Engine Development (HyEnD), reached an altitude of 2,903 meters at the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC) in Portugal. With this achievement, the University of Stuttgart students secured first place in the “Liquid Rocket 3000 m” category and second place overall among 25 participating university teams.

It remained exciting until the very end: On the third launch attempt, on the final day of the competition, the flight was a success. “After months of intensive preparation and testing, the moment of liftoff was an emotional highlight for us,” reports Laurence Hoffelder, team leader of HyEnD. After a successful engine ignition and a stable flight phase, both the drogue and main parachutes deployed as planned, and LUMINA landed gently in the designated recovery area. “A perfect flight,” Hoffelder says with delight.

“Such successes are the best proof of how important it is to inspire young people early on for research and technology,” says Professor Manfred Bischoff, Vice Rector for Research and Sustainable Development at the University of Stuttgart. “HyEnD’s top ranking impressively demonstrates how successfully the University of Stuttgart supports its young talent.”

Until now, HyEnD had developed hybrid rockets such as N2ORTH, which uses solid fuel and liquid nitrous oxide as propellants. With LUMINA, the team has now demonstrated its first self-developed liquid rocket, which uses ethanol instead of solid fuel. As part of the BLAST (Biliquid Launch and Space Technology) project, the students aim to develop innovative liquid engines as well as a compact and lightweight rocket design.

The main challenge lies in reducing weight. This is achieved through the use of state-of-the-art manufacturing and lightweight construction technologies, as well as alternative materials. For LUMINA, the students developed a carbon fiber–reinforced composite pressure tank, making the rocket one of the lightest liquid-fueled rockets in the history of the competition.

HyEnD brings together students from a wide range of disciplines, allowing them to gain hands-on experience in engine development, composite and additive manufacturing, electronics, and measurement technology. In addition, they acquire valuable skills in project management and public relations. Above all, one thing counts: teamwork. On LUMINA, the team integrated payloads from other university groups and school students. The student small-satellite group KSat e.V., the RocKIT team from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and the Aerospace Lab Herrenberg student laboratory tested their own experiments on LUMINA.

In the coming years, the technology is to be further scaled, with the ambitious goal of launching a student liquid-fueled rocket that reaches an altitude of over 50 kilometers by 2027. “The success of LUMINA demonstrates the potential that student engineering teams can achieve when they are given the necessary responsibility and support,” says Hoffelder.

Currently, 50 students from various study programs are involved in HyEnD. The student group is supported by university institutions as well as industry partners. The research work is supervised by the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart. The Materials Testing Institute (MPA) provides workshops and workspaces and shares its expertise in additive manufacturing. Financial support for the group, and in particular for the BLAST project, comes from the Future Initiative for Aerospace Talent in Baden-Württemberg [de]. The program promotes student research groups with the aim of inspiring young people in Baden-Württemberg to pursue careers in space and to strengthen the next generation of talent in this field.