coaxial hybrid engine

Rocket camera platforms

During the QinetiQ 1 project, Airborne Engineering Ltd was involved in a research programme investigating the use of off-the-shelf service rocket motors for use as camera platforms.

An all-forces dynamometer was developed to allow measurement and minimisation of off-axis thrust in solid rocket motors. This 5-axis instrument was used to test an optimum nozzle (one which balances side forces and moments for a particular vehicle). One of the possible applications of this programme was to develop a rocket system which could be launched from the QinetiQ-1 balloon for taking pictures of the balloon at the edge of the atmosphere.

Such a free-flying rocket platform, while cheap, is not very flexible, so Airborne Engineering Ltd is developing an actively stabilised camera platform based on hybrid rocket technology. The control system has been demonstrated using expendable solid motors and a throttleable coaxial hybrid engine has been tested. The next step is the integration of these technologies into a "hovering" camera platform.

gyro stabilising system for rockets camera platforms