Phoenix is a high-power rocket designed to launch to an altitude of approximately 30,000ft as a technology demonstrator for the UNSW Rocketry team. This was the second high-power rocket designed, manufactured, and launched during my time as Technical Director at UNSW Rocketry.
Almost two years after the launch, Phoenix was located and recovered. An investigation concluded that nose cone of the rocket broke during ascent, however, the rocket continued in stable flight, albeit with much higher drag than predicted, resulting in a lower apogee of approximately 17,000ft. It successfully deployed the drogue chute, however, the main chute failed to be deployed, instead remaining stuck in the airframe, resulting in a hard landing and subsequent damage to the airframe. Despite this, the onboard camera successfully recorded footage of the whole flight, and the onboard computers operated as intended. It is still unclear why the active telemetry systems failed, as they were lost during the descent, due to the broken nose cone.