The rocket of Project Lamarr – referred to as Hedy – is bi-liquid propelled, with ethanol as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidiser. Thanks to its increased efficiency compared to nitrous oxide, the rocket can reach an altitude of not 3, but 9 kilometres.

I continued my role as Aerostructure Lead after µHoubolt and am in charge of planning and manufacturing the airframe together with my team. As Hedy reaches a velocity of up to Mach 2, the aerostructure must perform well in both the subsonic and supersonic range.

The Aerostructure module is responsible for providing the fuel and oxidizer tanks, as they are structural —  their side walls part are part of the the body tube — which means the challanges of the new propulsion concept affect us. Liquid oxygen has almost -200°C and materials expand differently when the temperature changes, which makes developing a leak-proof system complex.