Frequently Asked Questions
A place to learn more about the club, the different subteams, and our projects. This is a helpful resource for outreach events, where you'll be asked various questions about the club.
General
Who are we?
We are UC Berkeley's competitive high-power rocketry team. We build rockets! Our mission is to enable students from all majors and backgrounds passionate about aerospace to gain hands-on experience through real-world projects. As part of STAR, members can expect to develop a set of valuable engineering skills, including experience with manufacturing, 3D CAD, simulation, project management, and more. For more information, check out our website at https://stars.berkeley.edu/!
What are the subteams?
Hardware Subteams
Airframe
Avionics
Payload
Propulsion
Recovery
Non-Hardware Subteams
Operations
Simulations
Systems
Business/Finance
Outreach
Media
Our projects
Ursa Minor: subscale for our entry in NASA Student Launch 2017
Ursa: our entry in NASA Student Launch 2017
Sub-Arktos: subscale for our entry in NASA Student Launch 2018
Arktos: our entry in NASA Student Launch 2018
AirBears: our 4" diameter test rocket, launched in Fall 2019
Bear Force One: 2020 launch vehicle, intended for IREC 2020 (competition cancelled due to COVID-19)
LE-175 "Hot Take": our liquid engine LOX/Kersoene test article
ELLIE: Our GOX/ethanol liquid engine test stand: successfully hotfired in May 2022
SSEP1: UC Berkeley's first stage separation rocket. Successfully launched at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in September 2022.
MINDI: UC Berkeley's First minimum diameter vehicle. Successfully launched at the Friends of Amateur rocketry site, smashing the current Cal altitude record at a whopping 14,325 feet!
ALULA: STAR's first flyable liquid engine! Set to hotfire March 2023, and fly soon after!
DAVE: STAR's first glider payload will deploy out of Bear Force One to carry payloads for longer periods of time.
CalVistor: STAR's entry into the IREC 2023 10K competition. Features a 6 inch diameter airframe, dual side dual deploy recovery system, and some epic payloads: muon detectors and a seismograph!
Check the website for more details, as well as our Launch History.
Joining STAR
Is there an application?
No! We do not have an application, and we accept any and all interested members. STAR has championed our no-application policy since our founding in 2016.
Is there a membership fee?
No! STAR is completely free to join, and there is no required membership fee. During a normal semester, many of our members opt to obtain the Jacobs Hall makers pass but this is entirely optional. Expenses made by members for club purposes (ie. buying raw materials and parts for our rockets) are usually reinbursed by the club (subject to subteam lead approval).
Do I need to have any experience to join?
No! A large majority of our members joined with little to no prior experience in rocketry. Yet through our own passion and motivation, we have been able to create fully functioning rockets! While having technical or business experience is nice, we primarily expect from our new members two things: passion and dedication.
Do I need to be an engineering major to join?
No! In addition to some of the non-technical teams mentioned above, one of our primary goals is member development and education. We have had a large number of members in non-technical majors do design, engineering, building, manufacturing, and testing of all different systems. With workshops and a mentorship program, we hope to teach all the tools you’ll need so that anyone who wants to is able to contribute.
Now that I'm interested, how do I join?
You can check out which of the subteams interest you and attend their meetings or talk to the leads in-person or on Discord. Once you have a subteam you're interested in, there is an intro project that you should complete to join the subteam. The intro project is not meant to be a homework assignment or something you have to tackle alone. There will be office hours and workshops to help you complete it, and we encourage collaboration!
You'll find all the practical info you need on the New Members page:
pageOnboardingHow often do you meet?
Twice per week. General Meetings ("GMs") and subteam meetings are usually two hours each every week. You might also meet outside of regular meetings for build days, design reviews, or other to hang out and gain subteam points! GM's this semester are Thursdays from 8-10 PM in Jacobs Hall and Subteam meetings are Mondays 7-9 PM in Etcherverry Hall!
Subteams
Airframe
What does Airframe do?
Design and manufacture launch vehicles
Includes the structure, materials, aerodynamics, and stability of the rocket
Help integrate the systems of other subteams
3-D model using SolidWorks and OpenRocket
Perform composite lay-ups to create airframe components.
Use a CNC tube winder to manufacture tubes and other airframe components
Mechanical design, systems engineering as needed
What is Airframe doing this year?
We are designing and building the airframe for our 6-inch diameter IREC rocket with a target apogee of 10,000 feet; this includes tubes, fins, the motor mount, couplers, brackets, fasteners, and more.
Avionics
What does Avionics do?
Make flight electronics systems and corresponding ground systems
Design custom circuit boards, flight software, ground station software for telemetry and analysis
Antennas, wiring, and interfacing with other elements of the vehicle
Electrical and software design, mechanical as needed
What is Avionics doing this semester?
We are designing and assembling the entire system architecture for Spectre. This includes flight computers, telemetry and power control, sensors, and more. The design cycle started with deriving requirements, and selecting key components, and moved into PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design (schematic and layout). Currently, we're working on revising the PCBs and starting to write firmware and software for our platform.
Payload
What does Payload do?
Develops experiment concepts for payload challenges
Designs payloads and collaborates on interfaces with other teams including Airframe, Avionics, and Recovery
Manufactures the payload! Payloads are primarily composed of custom parts made in Jacobs and the Etcheverry Hall machine shop
Runs through tests to ensure the payload suite meets all specs
Science, mechanical and electrical design, software as needed
What is a payload?
The payload is what the rocket is carrying, typically a satellite, scientific experiment, or even humans (for larger rockets).
What are some of the previously flown payloads?
Upright landing and target detection (SAGITTA-VL ... no one knows what this stands for)
Autonomous rover including mechanisms to separate the airframe (black powder charge) and push out the rover (scissor lift). Rover's mission was to drive 5 feet and deploy a set of folding solar panels.
Cosmic ray (muon) detector
Sensor package (pressure, acceleration, orientation, angular velocity, temperature, humidity, etc.)
What is payload doing this year?
We are designing and building a whole suite of science experiments and sensors to fly to a height of 10,000 feet.
Propulsion
What does propulsion do?
Responsible for putting the rocket in the air
Building the engine for the rocket
Combustion, fluids, cryogens, mechanical and some electrical design
Specifications for software
What is propulsion doing this year?
We are building a prototype liquid bi-propellant engine. Design work in progress includes designing test structures, an integration structure, and improving parts of the engine itself.
Recovery
What does Recovery do?
Responsible for the entire descent of the launch vehicle, including pyrotechnics and parachute deployment
Ensuring a safe landing of the vehicle
"Jack of all trades" subteam with tons of hands-on work
Fabrication, Electronics, Physics, CS, Systems
What is Recovery doing this year?
We are developing a novel stage separation mechanism, as well as managing the recovery of all launch vehicles in development.
Operations
What does Operations do?
Manage and enforce team-wide safety standards
Handle launch operations, checklists, and integration of the launch vehicle
Organize and maintain our GitBook!
This includes both tutorials and project-specific documentation behind-the-scenes
Technical design reports for competition
Launch checklists, procedures, and FMEA
Manage project-wide testing and verification of parts and systems
Make sure the inventory is up-to-date and usable
Manage CAD data
Look into regulations and law surrounding rocketry
Why should you join Operations?
Having experience working with project documentation is a highly sought-after skill by employers of all kinds. Being able to maintain docs for your project shows that you are organized and capable of communicating your ideas with others. Furthermore, tools like checklists, FMEA/FMECA, and especially unit and integration testing are used heavily in industry, and the Ops team is a great way to get familiar with these early on in your career!
If you're more interested in the safety side of Ops, learning how to work safely with dangerous materials and devices can be a great experience for those looking for or already participating in research or work using lasers, cryogens, high-pressure systems, composites, flammables, etc.
Simulations
What does simulations do?
Responsible for Design Verification and Concept Check
Using ANSYS, SimScale, hand calculations, and other computation software
Simulating flight trajectories and fluid dynamics
Stress analysis and hazard identification
Analysis of sensor data from flights
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