Project Porthos (2023)

Project Porthos is the McGill Rocket Team’s second-generation 10K rocket flying a fully student-researched and developed (SRAD) engine. It is a direct descendent of Athos, the team’s first 10K SRAD rocket.

The aerostructure subsystem is composed of the composite airframe, which is manufactured using vacuum-assisted resin infusion; the fins, which are manufactured with a pre-impregnated layup manufacturing process; and the coupling structures, which are internal structural cages manufactured primarily from aluminum. These couplers allow for the integration of a structural oxidizer tank, which is the biggest change made to the propulsion subsystem: the Maelstrom Mk. II. The propulsion subsystem also features a pneumatically actuated unified fill/dump valve, a pneumatically actuated feed delivery system, and a commercial-off-the-shelf combustion chamber casing, insulated with a carbon phenolic liner and fitted with a custom graphite nozzle. The propellants are liquid nitrous oxide and solid paraffin wax. Porthos's recovery system is a single separation via black powder ignition, dual deployment system; the drogue parachute is deployed with ejection at apogee, and the main parachute is deployed via a 3-ring release system. Two fully SRAD flight computers equipped with GPS modules and LoRa radio transceivers are employed to provide telemetry and trigger recovery events. Finally, the payload project consists of a 3U CubeSat that houses an experiment studying the effects of launch conditions on orthopedics implants, in collaboration with the McGill Orthopedic Laboratory.


Learning from the operational challenges met when attempting to launch Athos, the major risk that was identified for project Porthos was overly long and complicated assembly and launch procedures. As such, from a technical perspective, Porthos’s architecture is designed to allow for the parallel assembly of sub-systems to drastically reduce overall assembly time and complexity. Kicked off in July 2022, project Porthos will implement all the lessons learned during SAC 2022 to prove the team’s SRAD launch capability both at SAC 2023 and Launch Canada 2023.

Porthos 10K SRAD (Hybrid)

Airframe Length: 166"

Airframe Diameter: 6.2"

Wet Mass: 117 lbs

Peak Thrust: 1281 lbf

Total Impulse: 4000 lbf-s

Maximum Mach Number: 0.76

Airframe Length: 166" Airframe Diameter: 6.2" Wet Mass: 117 lbs Peak Thrust: 1281 lbf Total Impulse: 4000 lbf-s Maximum Mach Number: 0.76

  • • Fully SRAD Vacuum-Assisted Resin Infusion CFFP & GFRP airframe

    • Pre-impregnated CFRP fins and coupler

    • von Kármán nose cone geometry

    • Compression test result on CFRP body tube over 33,500 lbf

    • Structural skeleton for easier assembly

    • GRFP access panels.

  • • SRAD Hybrid engine

    • Eicosane (paraffin wax) fuel and Nitrous Oxide oxidizer

    • Carbon phenolic thermal liner and graphite nozzle

    • Shower head injector

    • SRAD run valve using a bypass gate valve approach

    • Carbon black additive for thermal stability and radiation opacity

    • SRAD piston for fill/dump ball valve actuation

    • Structural tank and legs for plumbing access and assembly

  • • Single separation, dual deployment

    • Black powder separation (two 1.6 g charges)

    • Non-pyrotechnic 3-ring release via mechanical actuation for main parachute deployment

    • Elliptical drogue parachute

    • Annular pull-down apex main parachute

  • • Single-board STM32F4 SRAD flight computer

    • Distributed control electronics for core avionics and propulsion systems, enabled by CAN bus communication.

    • 4 fused pyro channels, adjustable current

    • 900 MHz and 450 MHz radio compatibility

    • Robust connector solutions

  • L.O.V.E: Launching Orthopedics Vibration Experiment

    • Study the safety of individuals with orthopedic implants travelling to space

    • Fractured composite bone models and orthopedic plates model a human tibia fracture

    • Housed in a 3U CubeSat

    • IEPE 3-axial accelerometer measures the vibrations experienced during flight