I have no prior experience and am searching for resources to point me in the right direction.

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Jeremiah

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I am a plebe at this whole rocket development thing (all I know is the history and some systems of the Saturn five [and all of its component systems], some from the V2 or A4, and some from the Far Side Sounding Rocket.) My ultimate goal will be to launch a rocket attached to a 200ft. diameter weather balloon all the way up to the stratosphere then initiate the burn cycle and hopefully reach a altitude and orbiting speed fit enough to put a 5lb. satellite into orbit. This is a very ambitious project I am thinking about, some may consider foolish, but I am determined to accomplish this task hopefully without breaking the law (but I am not completely against it.) Please either knock some sense into me or list resources I can use, either will be useful and appreciated. Thank You.
 
This should be fun.

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That might be how you pronounce it, but the typical written convention is to use a Roman Numeral "V" when referring to that particular Saturn rocket, if you know your history.
 
First... Join a club, and start building, and flying rockets for fun and experience.
Second... Get your L1 certification
Third... Get your L2 certification
Fourth... Get your L3 certification
Next when you get to university, join your school's rocketry club, and work with your members to achieve your dream.
 
It's called a rockoon, lots of folks have thought about it, and nobody here will advise on non-ballistic ( i.e. orbital ) flight other than to say "don't".

DO however grab a model rocket or two and attend a local club launch. I think you'll find what you're looking for less than 10 miles up.
 
First... Join a club, and start building, and flying rockets for fun and experience.
Second... Get your L1 certification
Third... Get your L2 certification
Fourth... Get your L3 certification
Next when you get to university, join your school's rocketry club, and work with your members to achieve your dream.
Thanks
 
Grab a rocket and start flying. there's lots of stuff you can do, even hard stuff. Don't break the law. It's wrong, could endanger the hobby for all of us, and, speaking personally, if I knew you were going to, I'd turn you in to protect the hobby. We HAVE to be self-policing or we won't have a hobby. Don't spoil it for everyone.

You need to readjust your long term goals. To the best of our understanding the FAA will never allow a rockoon in the CONUS - it's a total non-starter. Good luck bankrolling such a project in international waters out in the ocean.
Orbital speed is a whole other problem. Mach 1 is no big problem with standard kits and motors. Mach 2 means either exotic motors or minimum diameter rockets, a little harder but doable with the right planning. Mach 3 and above, however, are a whole other game. Heating of the rocket due to friction becomes the most limiting factor in the design, components and adhesives. It's much, much more difficult and there aren't a whole lot of people who successfully do it in a routine basis.
 
Always great to have dreams and a goal!

You asked for a pathway, this is it

https://www.nar.org/members/nartek-skills-program/

Get yourself a starter Rocketry kit (I am partial to the Estes Tandem X). Your first rocket is what we call a “gateway lug”. (Yes that is spelled right, you will understand after you build a rocket.)

Get the book
handbook of model Rocketry.
https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Model-Rocketry-7th-Official/dp/0471472425

Join a local club.

Please post your progress here!

Straight Trails!
 
Hello Jeremiah,

As someone who has a bit of experience in solid propellant preparation, IMHO your project is roughly equivalent to someone designing and building a Formula 1 race car that could compete and possibly win the Indy 500, while having NO machining experience nor a machine shop. (Your project would be considerably more expensive than equipping a machine shop. A bank account with at least six or seven figures would be a good start.)

That's not an exaggeration BTW. Check out the commercial companies that have attempted similar projects; in particular, look at the ones that have gone out of business and see how much time and money they spent in their trials. (Multiple trials; nobody gets it right the first time.) Check out the Tripoli folks who have successfully flown and recovered a rocket from 100,000+ ft, and consider that they only had to go straight up, and at a speed of only(!!) two or three times the speed of sound. Orbital speed is around mach 25, not mach 2 or 3, and a flight that is oriented properly to go into orbit is a lot harder than straight-up. A helluvalot harder.

Also check out the guys who have tried and failed that straight-up flight. It ain't easy, even for the folks who have degrees in engineering or another hard science.

K'tesh has given some very good advice. By the time you successfully complete a Level 3 flight you'll have a much better appreciation of the challenges in your suggested project.

Best regards -- Terry
 
The Orbital ATK Pegasus, for example, and the larger under development Stratolaunch.

*cough* Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus XL *cough* If you spend 9.4B to aquire a company, it takes time to get used to new branding

. (Yes that is spelled right, you will understand after you build a rocket.)

I still don't get it o_O
 
Food for thought, the velocities required for orbit vary a little depending on your orbiting distance from earth but on the average are around 17500 miles per hour. For reference, a 30-06 rifle bullet at the muzzle is on average around 1840 miles per hour.
The amount of fuel (just the fuel) required for such a project is beyond the lifting capability of any helium balloon I've ever heard of.

Also, just in case it did not sink in when others have mentioned it, NO! ONE! HERE! WILL! HELP! YOU! BREAK! ANY! LAWS! EVER!
 
If you are independently wealthy....it is possible.
Est. cost 2 million.
Time 8-10yrs
That's the reality of your dream.
 
At least he posted here on TRF, where NASA and SpaceX come to get their engineering information. If only we could lure Virgin Galactic ....
 
I am a plebe at this whole rocket development thing (all I know is the history and some systems of the Saturn five [and all of its component systems], some from the V2 or A4, and some from the Far Side Sounding Rocket.) My ultimate goal will be to launch a rocket attached to a 200ft. diameter weather balloon all the way up to the stratosphere then initiate the burn cycle and hopefully reach a altitude and orbiting speed fit enough to put a 5lb. satellite into orbit. This is a very ambitious project I am thinking about, some may consider foolish, but I am determined to accomplish this task hopefully without breaking the law (but I am not completely against it.) Please either knock some sense into me or list resources I can use, either will be useful and appreciated. Thank You.


Jeremiah …...

Don't let these guys harass you, send me $5000.00 through Paypal and I will send you all the plans for your project. I will even throw in an ESTES kit to use as your vehicle !
 
I just did the algebra based physics math to find if this thing is possible, and I feel stupid. The weight of a launch vehicle even on the edge of the statisphere to get into launch orbit is more than 1,000 lbs. and well the diameter of the balloon would be more than 1,000 ft. so simple, I am just gonna do this, but instead just take one picture of the earth 30 miles up. Thanks for the help guys, sorry for being retarded (also the thing about breaking the law was a joke, please FBI I swear.
 
Thanks for the help guys, sorry for being retarded (also the thing about breaking the law was a joke, please FBI I swear.

Actually, it's probably the NSA, not the FBI . . . LOL !

It's good to "dream" . . . It's an "epiphany", when one separates "facts" from "fantasy" .

One step at a time !

Dave F.
 
I am a plebe at this whole rocket development thing (all I know is the history and some systems of the Saturn five [and all of its component systems], some from the V2 or A4, and some from the Far Side Sounding Rocket.) My ultimate goal will be to launch a rocket attached to a 200ft. diameter weather balloon all the way up to the stratosphere then initiate the burn cycle and hopefully reach a altitude and orbiting speed fit enough to put a 5lb. satellite into orbit. This is a very ambitious project I am thinking about, some may consider foolish, but I am determined to accomplish this task hopefully without breaking the law (but I am not completely against it.) Please either knock some sense into me or list resources I can use, either will be useful and appreciated. Thank You.

Well, have you tried anything already or just waiting for the variants now?
 
I just did the algebra based physics math to find if this thing is possible, and I feel stupid. The weight of a launch vehicle even on the edge of the statisphere to get into launch orbit is more than 1,000 lbs. and well the diameter of the balloon would be more than 1,000 ft. so simple, I am just gonna do this, but instead just take one picture of the earth 30 miles up. Thanks for the help guys, sorry for being retarded (also the thing about breaking the law was a joke, please FBI I swear.

Jeremiah, don't feel stupid. There are SO many projects, both rocketry-based and not, that sound great...until the math rears its ugly head. I'd bet long odds that some such projects have been funded by Our Gummint.

Example: some years ago a project was suggested to combat the hole in the ozone layer. Send up airplanes loaded with ozone and release the payload into the stratosphere. Nice idea, except that (a) ozone can't be stored like other gases, it has an unfortunate tendency to explode violently and/or react with almost everything, which tends to ruin one's day, especially at six miles above the earth. It has to be produced at the point of use/release; (b) a BOTE calculation says it would take about a million and a half cubic meters of ozone (at 1 atmosphere pressure) to replace 1% of the ozone layer. That's one and a half s**tloads... :D

Best -- Terry
 
Jeremiah,

I is always best to make one's mistakes on the "drawing board" . . . It's so much less expensive and dangerous that way !

Here is a great example . . . Great rocket, great motor, great launch site . . . ( Video below )

One small problem - Someone forgot to check where the CG was in relation to the CP . . .

A potentially very dangerous situation ( NEUTRAL STABILITY ) and a great deal of wasted money, in the process !

Dave

 
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