Projects / MiniRockets, MF39 Velocity Raptor

MF39 Velocity Raptor, from design to C'Space 2025

2023 to 2025MiniRockets program, Estaca Space Odyssey student societyStructures and mechanical design / Avionics and electronics / Assembly, integration and test / Project management

Nominal flight at C'Space 2025

Length: 840 mm
Mass: 1.37 kg
Team: 5 people
Flight: July 8, 2025

Project manager of MF39 in 2024-2025, after a first year on another MiniRockets rocket.

2023-2024, a first rocket

My first year in MiniRockets was on another rocket, for which I built the flight timer on a breadboard. That rocket was abandoned before it flew.

2024-2025, MF39 Velocity Raptor

The next year we started a new rocket, MF39 Velocity Raptor, and I became its project manager. MF39 is a small sounding rocket that was meant to measure its own velocity, with an experiment that in the end stayed on the ground. 840 mm glass fiber skin made by the team, 1.37 kg, Pandora Pro 24-6G motor.

My part

I led the five-person team and contributed to CAD, electronics, code and soldering.

Integration first

The internal structure slides in and out, so that every subsystem can be pulled out and put back without taking the rest apart.

Internal layout of MF39 in SolidWorks — Internal layout in SolidWorks, two electronics compartments, the parachute compartment and the motor section

MF39 electronics module slid into the skin — Electronics module slid into the skin

Pitot experiment, did not fly

I designed an onboard experiment to measure static and dynamic pressure with a Pitot tube sized for the rocket, running a C++ program adapted from the ESL avionics software. At C'Space, the board and code were ready but untested, so we chose to focus on the rocket and its recovery system. MF39 flew without the experiment.

C'Space 2025

On site

I was at C'Space 2025 to launch MF39, while the ESL-1 team prepared their own flight. The aim was to qualify as early as possible.

The fault

After qualification, MF39 failed its verification checks. To isolate the fault, I reworked the onboard board and code and swapped the Arduino, then went over the wiring closely and found intermittent contacts. I redid the solder joints, the rocket was qualified again and flew nominally the next day.

MF39 on site at C'Space 2025 — 1MF39 on site

MF39 during the qualification checks — 2Qualification checks

MF39 onboard board on the bench to isolate the fault — 3Fault isolated on the bench

Solder joints of the MF39 board, redone — 4Faulty solder joints, redone

MF39 liftoff, July 8, 2025 — 5Liftoff, July 8
© 2025 CNES Planète Sciences

MF39 under parachute — 6Under parachute
© 2025 CNES Planète Sciences

MF39 recovered after the flight — 7Recovered
© 2025 CNES Planète Sciences