SUPPORT OUR MISSION TO THE STARS

Purdue Orbital needs your support now to launch two critical missions—HAPSIS 2 and STRATOS 2—at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) spaceport this spring. These launches are years in the making and mark a major step in collegiate aerospace tech.

Your donation helps make these launches happen and keeps Purdue Orbital pushing boundaries in space exploration. Let’s make history together!

Purdue Orbital students work on a balloon system.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

Without funding, travel and material costs could prevent key team members from joining, putting our mission—and our future—at risk.

We plan to use donations for a Spring 2025 trip to the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) spaceport in Mojave, California—the only public spaceport in the U.S. capable of safely launching our rockoons. There, we will launch STRATOS 2 and HAPSIS 2, building on past successes and driving future progress in aerospace innovation. This project provides hands-on experience for undergraduate engineers, shaping future leaders in cutting-edge aerospace technology. However, without full funding, individual travel costs could skyrocket, preventing critical team members from attending and jeopardizing the mission.

Our technology has been in development since Spring 2024, with tens of thousands already invested. Without additional funding, we risk major setbacks—or even disbanding the organization entirely.

Purdue Orbital students pose for a photo.

OUR SYSTEMS

STRATOS is a sounding rocket which, if successful, will reach near-hypersonic speeds on ascent and exceed the altitude of every other Purdue rocket by over 30,000 feet, nearly double the existing record. It will be launched from the ground this year but is designed to be capable of a future launch from a high-altitude balloon. This could propel the vehicle beyond the 100km Karman Line and into outer space, providing minutes of microgravity time and making Purdue the second university ever to launch an amateur rocket into space. 

HAPSIS is our name for our Rockoon system. HAPSIS 2 is designed to push the boundaries of rockoon flight by gathering data and developing technology to support future missions. It will float to appx 20,000 feet before launching its rocket to appx 40,000 feet. This 20,000-foot rocket altitude gain is twice what is achievable from the ground.

ABOUT PURDUE ORBITAL

Founded in 2015, Purdue Orbital is a 150-member undergraduate engineering team at Purdue University developing rocket and balloon systems to make space and atmospheric research more accessible. The mesosphere (50-80km altitude) is the least explored region of our atmosphere, being too high for aircraft and weather balloons but too low for satellites and orbital spacecraft. 

We plan to increase collegiate access to this region of the atmosphere through our “rockoon” (hybrid rocket-balloon) technology. This allows more atmospheric data to be gathered while remaining safer and cheaper than comparable pure-rocket solutions, due to non-reliance on advanced rocket propulsion technology.

As a student organization, we are providing valuable technical experiences to Purdue students across many disciplines. Our engineering challenges inspire creative solutions and capable leaders. With skills working in our club students are better prepared to tackle industry challenges.