LaunchQuest represents an exciting and distinctive opportunity for students to think and work like real scientists. The LaunchQuest payload on the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL™ sounding rocket can accommodate up to forty-two experiment “T-SAT” (Tiny SATellite) containers that will hold a variety of investigations from several disciplines including materials science, biological and life sciences, chemistry, physics, and environmental science. The flight environment encountered by the experiments, from the moment of rocket burn to touch-down and recovery, is absolutely unique for every flight.

What program resources are available? The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. supplies school teams with T-SAT experiment containers, resource information, collaborative software tools, and technical support for the LaunchQuest Program.
What will the teams do? LaunchQuest teams, under the guidance of their teachers, will formulate test questions, design experiments, collect the materials, prepare the flight articles, and then analyze the results after the launch.  During this process, students will have an opportunity to learn about the concepts behind the launch (aeronautics, physical science, etc.), and follow the progress of a new commercial space flight venture while investigating the history of scientific entrepreneurship.
What kinds of experiments can be flown? Many of the experiments will be “fly and compare” passive experiments.  As part of the experimental process, teams are required to maintain control samples that are identical to the flight experiment. Other types of experiments are of the “monitoring” active type, where some parameter (such as ozone) is monitored as a function of the rocket flight. When experiments are returned after the launch, students will compare flight samples to ground samples to determine any effects caused by microgravity, radiation, magnetism, and other possible circumstances experienced during space flight, or analyze recorded data, as appropriate. There is no requirement that the experiments be original; the most important thing is that the experiments the students design should have some connection to the school curriculum and should engage and excite students, stimulate curiosity, and generate further interest in science, technology, engineering and math. The only restriction on experiment design is that the materials cannot pose a safety hazard or possibly interfere with another experiment on board the rocket.

  • The SpaceLoft XL™ rocket:  6.25 m tall, 26.4 cm diameter, 367 kg (with payload), single-stage 6061 T6 aluminum vehicle with solid rocket propellant
  • Apogee: Approximately 112 km (70 miles), Total Flight Time: 15 minutes, Time in “Space”: ~5 minutes, Launch and Boost Phase: 13 seconds, Velocity: 1.28 km per second (4,918 feet per second)
  • G-force (Axial and radial force during Boost Phase): 18.5g. The radial force is due to the fact that the rocket is spin-stabilized at 6 cps during launch. During re-entry, the payload will experience 5.25g (peak) deceleration, and at touchdown, the payload will experience a 60g deceleration force for ~0.25 seconds.
  • Temperature: The rocket will experience a range of temperatures from 25-65°C (75-150°F), with most of the heat due to atmospheric friction encountered by the vehicle airframe. The payload, however, will experience negligible heating due to thermal dispersion by the vehicles’ aluminum skin.
  • Atmospheric pressure: As the payload passes through the flight apogee, atmospheric pressure will be less than .01 atmospheres. The experiments are essentially “open to space” and the contents of the experiment compartments will be exposed to the vacuum of space.
  • Acoustic exposure: During the flight, most of the noise is generated by the rocket motor burn and does not exceed 110 dB. The payloads will be exposed to a number of acoustic frequencies and amplitudes.
  • Microgravity: The payload will experience ~5 minutes of microgravity.
  • Radio Frequency and Radiation Exposure: A 50 watt radar transponder is included in the airframe of the rocket. Payload exposure to other forms of radiation will vary due to the shielding provided by the aluminum enclosure and current solar flare conditions.