SULRE (Southampton University Liquid Rocket Engine) is a branch of SUSF, where students are dedicated to developing liquid rocket engines.
We aim to take this further in Summer 2025 by launching the first student liquid rocket from UK soil.
Founded in September 2022, SULRE began designing an IPA/NOX liquid bipropellant engine, with the aim of attending “Race 2 Space”, a UK national competition where student teams test their most recent advancements in chemical rocket propulsion innovation.
SULRE’s first engine, named Scorpio-I, had a thrust of 1.5kN, had an ablatively cooled combustion chamber and nozzle with a graphite throat, and ran using pressure-fed IPA/NOX.
Scorpio-I’s injector and housing structure was manufactured mainly from tool steel, but the combustion chamber liner and nozzle was made in-house from glass-fibre composites with phenolic resin.
Scorpio-I’s injector reservoir and injector plate were mated together, and cold-flow tested to verify that the pressures obtained would be suitable for the full engine when firing.
In July 2023, SULRE attended “Race 2 Space”, a national competition where various UK university teams’ engines went head-to-head on the test stand!
SULRE hot-fired Scorpio-I on the 7th July 2023, making the team the 3rd UK student team to successfully hot fire a liquid rocket engine.
Scorpio-I fired for 10 seconds, making it the longest hot fire of a liquid rocket engine by a UK student team, and winning the overall Race 2 Space competition!
Take a look below to see Scorpio-I’s hot fire!
The SULRE team, July 2023, celebrating their win at Race 2 Space
The SULRE team, circa October 2023
Comet-I, coming soon
(Take a look below to see a sneak-preview of just some of our designs and components for Scorpio-II, our second liquid engine, and Comet-I, our first liquid rocket)
