Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering is a student-run society within Delft University of Technology, with over 190 members. The main focus of the student group is the development of rocket technology on a non-profit basis. All development, from engines to electronics, is done in-house. Although several projects take place in DARE, the group's two flagship projects are Stratos and Project Sparrow. Stratos includes the Stratos I rocket which was launched in 2009 and set the European altitude record for amateur rocketry at 12.5 km. The follow-up of this rocket was the Stratos II+, which was launched on 16 October 2015, reaching an altitude of 21.5 km and breaking the European altitude record. In summer of 2018, Stratos III was launched, disintegrating 20 seconds after the launch. Its successor, Stratos IV, is currently in development. Project Sparrow is the newest project, working on a liquid-fueled rocket engine, which will be designed to go beyond the Kármán line. Even though DARE cooperates with the military to safely conduct launch campaigns, DARE's technology is strictly non-military. Approximately 70 percent of members come from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of Delft University of Technology, with the remaining 30% coming from other faculties, including Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Industrial Design. DARE also features a very high number of international students, with about half of the students coming from outside the Netherlands.
History
DARE was founded in 2001 by six students as a committee of the study association VSV Leonardo da Vinci of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering on the TU Delft. The number of members has increased to over 190 in 2020. DARE is one of the university's Dreamteams, to which also Nuna, Forze and DUT Racing count. Over the years DARE has developed expertise in all three major rocket propulsion technologies (solid, liquid, and hybrid), with multiple conference papers published each year. 2009 marked DARE's Stratos I launch, which set the European altitude record of 12.5 km for student rockets. Afterwards, the development of Hybrid rocket engines was started, resulting in the 8 kN DHX-200 Aurora. This engine powered Stratos II, which after a failed launch campaign in 2014 broke the European altitude record for student rocketry in 2015.
Launches
DARE typically conducts two to four launch days each year for small scale rockets that go up to a maximum of two kilometers altitude. These launches take place on a military site near 't Harde in the North of the Netherlands. To go to higher altitudes, DARE occasionally participates in launch campaigns elsewhere in Europe.
Facilities
The work of DARE takes place at two locations at the TU Delft campus. The first is a manufacturing-orientated workshop (called the LaikaLab) in TU Delft's Dreamhall. Here the major parts of rocket production takes place. The second workshop is an office space for meetings, theoretical design, and electronics development. This facility (called the KorolevLab) is located in the EWI faculty of the university and run in cooperation with TU Delft's Robotics Institute.
Projects
DARE has a number of teams working on specific areas of rocket technology, logistics, promotion and sponsor acquisition.
Solid Propulsion
Most rockets of DARE run on solid propellant engines, which are developed and built by the Solid Six team and the Safety Board. The propellants used is either a mixture of sorbitol and potassium nitrate, known as rocket candy, or a mixture of Ammonium Nitrate and Aluminium called Alan-7. The scale of the developed engines ranges from 300 N up to 7000 N.
Hybrid Propulsion
After the launch of Stratos I, research to Hybrid rocket engines started within DARE. After extensive theoretical research, small scale testing (ranging from 500 to 1100 N) commenced to gain experience with the system and to select the optimal engine configuration. The selected fuel was a mixture of Sorbitol, Paraffin and Aluminium, combined with Nitrous Oxide as oxidizer. This work has resulted in several publications in several different journals including the journal of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Scaled-up versions of this engine are used to power Stratos II+ and III, the flagship projects of DARE.