Space Concordia’s rocket Starsailor is one step closer to liftoff

Space Concordia is an award-winning, multidisciplinary student space program at Concordia. Earlier this year, the team’s Satellite division was the first student group in Quebec to build a CubeSat — a class of miniaturized satellite — and send it to space.

Their latest project, Starsailor, aims to be the first and only university rocket of this scale to successfully launch into space. Oleg Khalimonov is the program’s lead.

It’s been months of relentless system-level testing. Two weeks of work in challenging cold conditions. And three days of constant freezing rain.

But Space Concordia has successfully executed the first full-scale test of the university’s premiere space launch vehicle.

Our team loaded the rocket with 430 litres of water as an analogue propellant. We pressurized the tanks and flawlessly rehearsed the entire launch sequence. The pressure and flow data met all design criteria with a margin of 10 per cent.

The team is ecstatic with this result. We are already immersed in discussions about necessary improvements and optimizations for future tests.

This milestone represents one of the most significant accomplishments in our team’s history, bringing us a giant leap closer to our maiden launch.

None of these achievements would be possible without the unwavering support of and contributions from our remarkable sponsors, donors, advisors, staff and mentors. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for their invaluable role in creating this historic event.

For the remainder of the year, the focus will be on reviewing the data from this successful test. We will continue to apply for technology development grants and prepare for upcoming follow-up tests of the rocket.

Our thanks to all those who have made this extraordinary achievement possible.

Learn more about Space Concordia.