Race 2 Space
The ‘P’ in QPL stands for propulsion
Competition background
Race 2 Space is an organisation which runs the National Propulsion Competition, the flagship student rocketry competition in the UK. Intended as a final link between industry and academia, Race to Space aims to provide the growing UK space industry with graduates who have practical and applicable experience in propulsion technologies.
Their goals of upskilling the future generation of the space industry strongly aligns with QPL’s mission in Northern Ireland. We therefore believe it is of upmost importance that we represent the region at the National Propulsion Competition and showcase all that NI has to offer.
2024/25
Following a successful first year at the competition, the propulsion team pivoted from a hybrid to a liquid engine, taking important lessons learned into uncharted territory. In the space of only a single academic year, the team went from concept to test hardware and produce Kelvin Mk.1, Northern Ireland’s first student liquid engine.
Kelvin Mk.1 was manufactured with a Belfast-based additive manufacturing firm named Laser Prototypes Europe (LPE). Drawing on LPE’s experience in this field, the team 3D printed Kelvin flawlessly from aluminium alloy using Direct Metal Laser Sintering. At the R2S competition day, Kelvin fired a whopping 4 times producing a peak thrust of 3 kN!
2023/24
2023/24 was QPL’s first year attending Race 2 Space and the first time we had ever designed or built a rocket engine of any form. Starting in September 2023 with the goal of developing a hybrid engine, the propulsion team worked tirelessly to prepare for the competition day in July 2024.
After months of engineering, their efforts were rewarded with the first hot firing of the Phoenix engine at Westcott Space Cluster on the 17th of July. Phoenix used solid paraffin as a propellant with a nitrous oxide oxidiser to generate 300 N of thrust.
