As part of the 2010-2011 NASA University Student Launch Initiative competition, the BYU Mechanical Engineering Department and the Fulton College of Engineering sponsored capstone team 12 in building a rocket that would compete against other universities. The rocket must carry an innovative payload to 5,280 ft AGL and land within 2500 ft of the landing pad with 10 mph winds.

The team’s mission was to use an on-board radio-control system to guide the launch vehicle to a target landing zone for complete recovery and re-use. This recovery will takes place under manual control and uses an on-board camera to assist in finding the target landing zone. Two parachutes are used for recovery: a pilot and a main. The main parachute is a rectangular ram-air chute. Deployment of the parachutes was accomplished via a side-hatch that was to be ejected at apogee. The pilot chute will pull the main chute from the parachute bay. The rocket descends in a horizontal configuration with the nose cone intact much like an airplane. The vehicle will be launched to an altitude of 5,280 ft AGL and descend as one piece.