Project ATLAS Hybrid Rocket Engine; Commercial Expansion and the New Dynamics of Spacepower

Space is no longer the final frontier - it’s the current battleground for both national defense and student engineering innovation. My Aerospace Capstone team set out to design, build, and test a hybrid rocket engine, aiming to improve combustion performance through 3D-printed components and cost-effective testing infrastructure. At the same time, my STS research explored how expanding access to space is transforming modern security frameworks by examining how new actors are reshaping power dynamics traditionally dominated by a handful of superpowers. Though these projects operate at different scales, they are connected by a shared question: What happens when control over space technologies is decentralized? Access to space is growing rapidly - both at the technical engineering level and in the political domain. This shift from centralized, state-dominated systems to distributed, hybrid frameworks demands new strategies, safeguards, and ways of thinking. The motivation for Project ATLAS came from a widespread challenge in the aerospace community: hybrid rocket engines are notoriously difficult to model and optimize due to their variable performance characteristics. Our team sought to address this by designing an H-class hybrid motor capable of supporting a full hot-fire test campaign. Using modular components and 3D-printed injector heads, we created a testbed for experimenting with grain geometries, ignition systems, and oxidizer injection. The goal was not only to validate engine performance but also to provide a scalable, low-cost platform for future student-led propulsion research at UVA. The results were both technically and educationally significant. We developed and tested the ATLAS engine, conducting hydrostatic, cold flow, and static hot-fire trials. The data collected - on thrust, chamber pressure, ignition reliability, and injector performance - proved critical to validating our design decisions. Although the hot fire test resulted in structural failure, we are confident that additional iterations would lead to a stable static fire. We also developed a robust safety and data acquisition framework, including remote operations, blast shielding, and thermal monitoring. Beyond generating useful engineering data, ATLAS created a template for sustainable propulsion testing infrastructure at UVA. My STS research asked a different kind of question: How is the expansion of space access reshaping traditional defense strategies? To investigate this, I applied Actor-Network Theory (ANT), a framework that treats both technologies (like satellites or ASAT missiles) and institutions (like governments or corporations) as co-constructors of power. Using three scenarios - Starlink’s role in the war in Ukraine, China’s military-civil space integration, and India’s anti-satellite missile test - I examined how state and non-state actors are building new strategic networks in orbit. My methodology prioritized real-world developments and treated them as dynamic interactions between human and non-human actors. This research showed that spacepower is no longer owned - it is assembled. Ukraine’s battlefield communications relied on a private company. China fused military and commercial space efforts to consolidate control. India’s ASAT test signaled that even emerging powers can reshape the orbital landscape. In each case, security emerged not from sovereign control but from relationships - among agencies, companies, regulations, and technologies. ANT helped explain how spacepower today depends on managing these interdependent systems. Ultimately, my paper argued that governments must rethink space governance in an age where private actors are no longer peripheral - they’re at the center.