UVic Rocketry participates in 2019 Spaceport America Cup

After another long year of designing, manufacturing, and testing, UVic Rocketry's latest rocket Hyak-2 was ready to make the long trek to the 2019 Spaceport America Cup in New Mexico, USA. The rocket, which stands at 12 ft tall, was designed to fly at almost twice the speed of sound to a height of 30,000 ft.3,000 km of driving and three boiling days in the New Mexico desert later, the time had come to find out if Hyak-2 would survive its flight, break the sound barrier, and make it to our highest altitude ever. Being only a year since Hyak-1's catastrophic disassembly, the team knew to temper its expectations as Hyak-2 came screaming into view, with a bright flame against the sky.We stood stunned for a moment, watching various parts of our rocket fall from the sky in pieces. And then slowly, a round of applause started up. Even though our flight was far from nominal, we had just launched our rocket. A year of work was complete, and we were proud of our work and of each other.

Rockets are hard, and we are reminded everyday through the failures that the we and the teams around us encounter. However, the resilience that our team has shown in the face of failure is what makes us who we are. We are excited to take what we've learned at this year's competition and come back stronger with our eyes set on redemption this upcoming season.   

If you are interested in learning more about UVic Rocketry, or want to get involved with the club, feel free to contact us at rocketry@uvic.ca, rocketry.uvic.ca, or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.