DART: A Small-Scale Demonstrator for Rapid and Precise Rocket Payload Delivery

Current suborbital cargo delivery methods are slow and may not respond well to time-sensitive situations. At the same time, while orbital launch vehicles are capable of high speeds, their single-use tendency drives prohibitive costs. In June 2021, to address this dilemma, the United States Air Force announced the fourth Vanguard program (Rocket Cargo), which aims to examine the possibility and practicality of using large commercial rockets for Department of Defense global logistics. Derived from the Rocket Cargo Vanguard program, the DART project is a 2024-2025 senior design initiative at the Florida Institute of Technology that aims to develop a small-scale, proof-of-concept demonstrator exploring the feasibility of using rocket propulsion for precise, point-to-point payload delivery. This work involves designing, building, and launching a model rocket to an altitude of at least 75 meters (~250 feet), carrying a payload of at least 75 grams (5% of the rocket’s mass), and propulsively landing at a pre-determined landing zone no less than 50 meters (~165 feet) from the launch site. Technical aspects include leveraging additive manufacturing to support complex component geometries, performing rigorous trajectory simulation, and implementing a custom, fully autonomous control system capable of handling all flight operations. The project’s success would serve a twofold purpose. First, it would fill a void of current propulsive landing projects at Florida Tech. More importantly, it would expand on the University’s existing amateur rocketry knowledge base and present a smaller, more accessible model to test future thrust-vector-control and GNC systems.