Projects
Projects
Active Teams
Stratos is the flagship project of DARE. Many years of knowledge and research are combined into a single, ambitious project. The objective of Stratos V is to reuse a cryogenic liquid bi-propellant rocket with a scientific payload onboard, fully designed and built by university students.
DARE has been the main rocket supplier for the annual Dutch CanSat competition, organized by ESERO as an outreach to Dutch secondary schools. Teams of 15-16 year old pupils competed to build the best CanSat, a small satellite built inside a soda can, to be launched by our rocket.
Designing and developing flight software and electronics for rockets and ground systems.
Designing, producing and testing new parachute designs and configurations for DARE launch vehicles.
SHEAR is an experiment that will fly aboard REXUS 32 as part of the German-Swedish programme REXUS/BEXUS.
Vulture is researching thrust vectoring control. The team is developing general-purpose software and a small hopper to test it on.
ARC
Kraken
Inactive Teams
The first large launcher developed by DARE, featuring a two-stage solid rocket. Stratos I successfully reached 12.5 km, breaking European student altitude record.
The Stratos II rocket was the first large hybrid launcher built by DARE. The vehicle did however not lift-off due to a frozen oxidizer valve. Stratos II+ was the answer to Stratos II in 2015, and successfully launched to 21.5 km, breaking the European student altitude record set by Stratos I.
After the launch of Stratos II+, the HyEnD student team claimed the European student altitude record. The 330 kg vehicle lifted-off perfectly, but an anomaly occurred at 10 km, resulting in a rapid unscheduled disintegration of the vehicle.
After the Stratos III in flight RUD, work on Stratos IV began. The team was determined and committed to achieving their mission: “Design, build, test, and launch a rocket which would break boundaries in Fall 2021.”. Unfortunately, ground system difficulties prevented the vehicle from taking off
Advanced Control Team
Investigating active stabilization of rockets. Discontinued in 2019.
Aether
Aether aims to test a supersonic rocket showcasing active aerodynamic stabilization through the use of steerable wings, and deploying a new high speed recovery concept by ejecting a drogue chute via a high pressure cold-gas mortar. Currently on hold waiting for the biggest solid rocket engine developed by DARE, the DXS-Icarus.
Capsule and Recovery
They designed recovery systems and structures for many DARE rockets, including Stratos II/II+. Discontinued after splitting up into the Parachute Research Group and Structures Team in 2018.
Cryogenic Propulsion
Researching and developing liquid rocket engines with cryogenic propellants. Discontinued in 2020, when Sparrow took over.
DAWN
The first team in DARE actively developing hybrid rocket engines. Designers of the DHX-200 ‘Aurora’ engine used on Stratos II/II+.
Deimos
Infinity and Beyond
Designed recovery systems and structures, including for Stratos II/II+. Discontinued after splitting up into the Parachute Research Group and Structures Team in 2018.
NEAR is designing and building a rocket that is to reach an apogee of 3.5km, using an experimental Active Apogee Control system.
Phoenix
The second hybrid propulsion team in DARE. The founding fathers of the DHX-400 ‘Nimbus’ engine used on Stratos III. Discontinued in 2017.
Sparrow
Designing, building, and testing a thrust-vectoring, liquid fuel rocket engine, named DLX 150B ‘Firebolt’, to power DARE’s next generation of high-performance rockets.
Supersonic parachute project flying a small experimental payload capsule on board of the Rexus rocket in March 2020.
