Deimos 1

Deimos-1 was the first UK built amateur or professional hybrid rocket to ever be launched from British soil. Powered by the MARS BK Flamer hybrid rocket motor, this vehicle has paved the way for a series of increasingly adventurous hybrid motor powered amateur rockets, most recently, the Deimos-2 series, which utilise the massive B4 hybrid rocket motor.

After the successful static testing of the BK Flamer (B1) hybrid rocket motor in 1997, MARS realised that we had a chance to be the first group to fly an amateur (and possibly professional) hybrid rocket motor in the UK, if we could build an airframe for the B1 motor. It took several months to source the parts - including a suitable flight tank (an aluminium CO2 tank) and a solenoid valve - and build the system into an airframe. By late 1998, the Deimos 1 rocket, nicknamed "Spear of Righteous Vindication" in response to members of other rocketry groups who claimed it would never fly, was ready for launch.

After one abortive launch attempt that failed due to problems with an onboard power supply to the solenoid valve, the rocket was finally launched on September the 13th, 1998. The B1 hybrid rocket motor once again performed beautifully, the rocket roaring into the Lincolnshire skies, before recovering safely by parachute, a few hundred metres downrange. Altimeter data showed that the hybrid rocket motor had operated within 5% of the predicted performance, and had propelled the 3kg rocket to over 1000 feet in altitude. "Spear of Righteous Vindication" lived up to its name in style.

Continue to Deimos PTV 1,2 >>>