Projects / ESL program management

ESL program management

2026 to 2027Estaca Space Launcher (ESL) program, Estaca Space Odyssey (ESO) student societyProject management

In progress

Where my work sits in ESL-2

Provisional section view of ESL-2, engine at the tail on the left, nose cone on the right — Schematic and provisional section view of ESL-2, engine at the tail, nose cone on the right. The design is still evolving.

Role

I co-lead the ESL program with another student, who is in charge of the NAGA hybrid engine. My side is the ESL-2 rocket itself, its structures, embedded systems and recovery teams, and the way they fit with the engine.

On the society side, I also mentor a PITA 3A structures project, a supervised year-long project of 6 third-year students working on the qualification of the composite skins. I check in with them and answer their questions. Their school and industry tutors run the actual supervision.

Goal for this year

Take the rocket through qualification testing of the recovery system. Ground ejection tests, structural and integration tests, then representative tests with the final avionics timer at the end of the year.

Planning

Initial schedules from August to May, one per team plus a combined view. The combined view puts the critical interfaces on the same timeline as the tasks, for example the date when the NAGA dimensions are frozen and handed over to structures.

ESL-2 forecast schedule, combined view

Structures, PITA 3A project

ESL-1 analysis, preliminary sizing, September to mid-October

PRR, mid-October

Sizing, parametric CAD, theoretical tests, October to January

PDR, end of January

Test benches, orders, skin manufacturing, Mid-January to April

Launcher assembly and integration, Mid-April to mid-May

Static fire, early May

Avionics and NAGA controls

ESL-1 software, recovery completion, August to October

Action plan, avionics bay CAD, October to December

Avionics PDR, end of December

Hermès, NAGA control software, PCBs, January to February

Orders and breadboard tests, February to March

Board integration, integrated tests, March to April

Balloon or minirocket test flight, Mid-April to May

Critical interfaces

NAGA dimensions frozen for structures, October to mid-November

Structures and avionics, avionics bay, Mid-October to mid-December

CDR if major NAGA changes, end of February

Initial forecast, 2026-2027. Diamonds mark reviews and milestones.

Budget

Forecast built line by line, with a low and a high estimate for each item, and notes on possible sponsors or parts we can reuse.

Forecast spending, ESL-2

Avionics, systems: EUR 473 to 910
Structures: EUR 850 to 2,235
Total: EUR 1,323 to 3,145

Dark part, low estimate. Light part, up to the high estimate.

Recruitment and sponsoring

Recruitment

15 students interviewed for the structures team and scored on a weighted grid. Motivation for this specific project counts most, then technical reasoning and method. Each interview included a short deflection exercise on an interface part.

Sponsoring

Reaching out to sponsors to fund part of the budget.