Vulcan I: Rocket Powered by 3D Printed Engine

Summer Updates
over 10 years ago – Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 10:01:50 PM

DON’T FORGET TO INPUT YOUR SHIPPING INFORMATION ON BACKERKIT!!

the link will be in an email you should have received on August 6th

 IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO GET YOUR INCENTIVES TO YOU!! 

And now the news… 

Here at SEDS UCSD we are working hard to keep the club running during the summer months when most of our club is off interning at various companies learning skills to make our club even better when the fall comes around. We are super excited to announce the launch of our revamped SEDS UCSD website. The new site includes pictures of the team, complete bios of our projects, and a sleek new design! We hope that the new site will bring a fresh face to our club and keep people interested in our work!

http://seds.ucsd.edu 

 We are also working on finding a new work space for us to grow into next year! Naturally, this has proven tough, but we are all determined to have a place to work next year

BackerKit is LIVE + Featured in Space.com!
over 10 years ago – Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 05:44:23 AM

Hi Backers!

Though we have had our ups and downs, we here at SEDS UCSD are still working very hard to make sure our rocket is ready for launch as soon as we feel our rocket can have a safe and successful flight. Naturally, as this is a detailed and complex engineering project many small things can go wrong over the course of tests and construction, which obligates us to spend the extra time and effort in order to be comfortable to launch the rocket.

We will continue to keep you posted on the project you generously helped fund, and we cannot thank you enough for your support. Remember for more frequent updates please visit our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/sedsucsd)!

We will be sending an email with a special link to BackerKit surveys today! It is important that when you receive the survey, you get it back to us as quickly as you can. Our ability to make an order depends on receiving this information. Filling out your BackerKit survey is not required, but will help out our project tremendously, and help us get your rewards out to you quicker.

You do not need to make a login and password to fill out your survey, just fill it out and you’re all good to go!

In the BackerKit survey, please answer any questions we may have regarding your pledge, provide shipping information, pay for international shipping if you forgot, and if you want you can even order more items or “add-ons”. You do not have access to this link yet, but it will be available soon via email!

If you’ve decided later that you filled out something wrong in the survey, you can actually go back and change it anytime before I announce the cut off date for changes. If you use your Facebook login for your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit invite will be sent to the email you used for your Facebook account. If you have another email you prefer it to be sent to, please [email protected].

Also in case you missed it our Vulcan-1 engine was featured on Space.com (http://www.space.com/29808-students-3d-printed-rocket-engine.html)!

Thank you again for all your support, we are working hard to make sure Vulcan-1 has a successful launch.

SEDS UCSD

ESRA LAUNCH UPDATE
over 10 years ago – Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 01:27:03 AM

Hello Backers,

We sincerely apologize for not being able to send out an update on the launch sooner, but fear not, here it is.

Since the completion of the Kickstarter we were in the fabrication phase of the Vulcan-1 rocket, getting ready to attend the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) held by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) near Green River, Utah on June 24-27th with a scheduled launch date of June 26th.

While at the competition we attempted performing a cold flow test using a new main valve which was unsuccessful due to problems with actuation. It was then that as a team we made the decision to postpone the launch. Without a successful cold flow test we couldn't be sure of our chances of a successful launch or ensure the safety of anyone present.

Until that date we as a team were putting in 16+ hour work days the week before the launch (post-finals) and 20+ hour work days the week of the launch on a 24 hour schedule working our hardest to make the launch happen. And though we came close the risks were too numerous to continue at the time.

But the Vulcan-1 project does not end there! Though we were unable to compete we've come back to San Diego, California and are continuing work on the rocket, expecting a launch in August at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) site in the Mojave Desert where we performed the previous hot fire tests on our Ignus engine on April 18th and May 30th.

In the meantime, you can see pictures of the progress we made post-finals on our Facebook page at facebook.com/sedsucsd and see the different stages of our fabrication and our members hard at work. Additional fabrication and Green River photos and footage will be going up within the next couple of days as well as further progress updates.

Above all we'd like to thank you all for being patient with us and believing in our mission. Very little of this would have been possible without your support and we never forget that. At this very moment our Business team is working to ship your incentives early-mid August as well. If you have any questions or want a more technical account of the events that lead to the launch's postponement let us know through Kickstarter and we'd be more than happy to provide that.

Sincerely,

SEDS@UCSD

LAUNCH
almost 11 years ago – Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 01:19:51 AM

Hello Backers!  

We are so excited to share that we expect to launch our rocket at the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) competition in Green River, Utah TODAY!  

It has been a busy month here at UCSD. Our team worked around the clock to get this rocket built and ready (not exaggerating). Assuming all launch conditions are acceptable, we will be able to get this thing in the air this afternoon! This is very exciting, but none of it could have been accomplished without your support.  

Thank you for making this happen

SEDS@UCSD

IMPORTANT BackerKit Information and Successful Hot-Fire Test
almost 11 years ago – Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 09:20:10 PM

Hi Backers!

Some of you did not receive this update so we are re-posting it. We here at SEDS UCSD are hard at work with building the rocket YOU FUNDED! SEDS members have been working 24/7 on the rocket this week and will continue to do so until the launch!! We are so grateful for all your generosity!!!

We expect to be shipping your incentives between early-mid August. LOOK OUT FOR AN EMAIL FROM BACKERKIT!!! We are using this platform to facilitate with shipping as well as offering a last chance to get rewards!

PS: We had another successful hot-fire test of our engine!!!

Thank you so much again for making this dream a reality!