Project Daybreak

Project Messenger was HLA's first group build project. The Project Messenger team launched their group-built high-power rocket, CX-3E Odyssey, at the 2017 Spaceport America Cup competition in New Mexico. After launching, the rocket (supposedly) reached its 10,000-foot altitude goal and then proceeded to separate in two. Only one of the halves was ever recovered.

For six years, the HLA continued to gather the pieces Project Messenger left behind. The club expanded, its programs grew and developed, and countless members received high-power rocketry certifications. Finally, it was decided (by our much-beloved president, Sumit Das) that 2023 would be the year high-power group builds came back. Thus, this February, HLA's newest high-power group build Project Daybreak, was formed.

Since February, the Daybreak team worked on every single aspect of the rocket's design. Daybreak was designed to be a dual-deploy rocket with a maximum apogee of just over 4,000 feet (we would go higher, but legally, we can't). The exterior of the rocket was constructed out of two 5.38'' body tubes, an electronics bay, an extended 5.38'' nosecone, and four fins.

The body tubes and electronics bay were reinforced with fiberglass while the fins were reinforced with both fiberglass and carbon fiber. The rocket was powered by a singular Cesaroni K740-12 C-Star motor (it's really powerful) and the recovery systems were controlled by separate flight computers (the Missile Works RRC3 and RRC2L).

All these efforts resulted in a 7.5-foot-tall rocket (we wanted to make it BIG) that weighed 18.5 pounds and which launched and was successfully recovered in November of 2023!