About the UVA Rocketry Team

Founded in 2016, the UVA Rocketry Team has always aimed to excel in collegiate rocketry competitions. While our progress was interrupted by the pandemic, we made a strong comeback in 2022, competing in the Battle of the Rockets (BOTR) in Virginia. Our team successfully designed, built, and launched a rocket to 1,200 feet, securing first place in the competition. Building on this momentum, we competed in the 2024 Spaceport America Cup (IREC) in the 10K COTS Category with our rocket, Sabre I. Reaching an apogee of 8,000 feet, we successfully launched and recovered the vehicle, placing 37th out of 150 teams. With our team now expanded to over 90 members, we are more ambitious than ever. In 2025, we plan to return to the IREC competition, improving our systems to achieve even greater success.

Introducing Sabre II – Our Most Innovative Rocket Yet

For this year’s competition, we are developing Sabre II, featuring a cutting-edge airbrake altitude control system. This system will deploy retractable drag plates in flight, allowing us to precisely control the rocket's apogee.

At the heart of this system is the Sabre II Airbrake Flight Computer - a custom-designed PCB integrating:

• Onboard Sensors: Bosch BMP580 barometer for altitude measurement
• External Sensor Compatibility: Support for VectorNav VN-300 IMU and additional barometers
• Processing Power: Teensy 4.1 microcontroller running custom flight software to predict apogee and control actuation
• Actuation: 60kg servo for directly controlling the airbrakes
• Telemetry: 915 MHz LoRa transceiver, transmitting real-time data to a ground station
• Data Logging: Redundant storage via SPI Flash and an SD card, ensuring all flight data is recorded
• Power System: Dual 7.4V batteries, with separate power modules to provide stable voltage to the servo and the sensors

How PCBWay Can Help

To ensure the success of our airbrake system, we require quality PCBs for our flight computer. A sponsorship from PCBWay would be invaluable in helping us manufacture reliable, high-performance boards that can withstand the extreme conditions of high-powered rocketry. With test flights scheduled in the coming months and the competition in June, your support would directly contribute to advancing our technology and improving our performance at IREC 2025.

We are excited about the opportunity to partner with PCBWay and work together to push the boundaries of student rocketry. Your sponsorship would not only help us achieve our competition goals but also inspire future generations of engineers through hands-on experience in aerospace technology. We appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to collaborating with PCBWay to bring innovation and engineering excellence to new heights!

• aerospace
• competition
• rocket
• space
• flight