The newly unveiled Andromeda 2 is a sounding rocket powered by a hybrid rocket motor. It has a diameter of 161 millimetres, is approximately four metres long and weighs 32.8 kilograms. Compared with the previous model, the student team managed to make this year’s rocket 20 centimetres shorter and an impressive 2.5 kilograms lighter. “Thanks to these small improvements, the rocket can reach a higher altitude of 3,280 metres above the launch site while using a rocket motor of the same power,” said Vojtěch Ježek, Chief Engineer of the CTU Space Research student team.
The team will take its new rocket to represent CTU at the European Rocketry Challenge 2026 (EuRoC), an international university rocketry competition organised by the Portuguese Space Agency. The competition will take place in Constância from 15 to 21 October and will bring together the 25 best teams selected by the organisers from all applicants.
Three years of hard work for three minutes of flight
So what does the flight of such a rocket look like? It begins at the launch site in the Portuguese countryside, where the ground control unit issues the command to ignite the motor at lift-off. The motor then burns for approximately five seconds, accelerating the rocket to just under 1,000 kilometres per hour. During this time, the rocket reaches an altitude of around 1,100 metres before continuing without propulsion, carried solely by its own momentum.
“It reaches the highest point of its trajectory, known as the apogee, after approximately 26 seconds. At this point, the flight computer issues the command to deploy the drogue parachute, under which the rocket descends to an altitude of around 450 metres at an average speed of 25 metres per second. At this altitude, the flight computer issues the command to deploy the main parachute, which slows the rocket to approximately six metres per second. It then lands at this speed,” explained Vojtěch Ježek, adding that the rocket touches down approximately three minutes after lift-off.
“As is often the case in rocketry, we might spend three years building a rocket for just three minutes of flight. But it is something that all of us are very happy to undertake,” he added enthusiastically.
CTU Space Research and FEE CTU
This year, CTU Space Research officially expanded to include the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at CTU. Associate Professor Stanislav Vítek, Head of the Department of Radioelectronics, became the team’s academic supervisor. This development primarily reflects the significant number of FEE students on the team, as well as the collaboration that has produced outstanding degree projects and theses.
“Building a rocket that is actually intended to fly is a complex and highly multidisciplinary undertaking. Communication, coordination and resilience are crucial for a student team because the risk of an experimental failure is relatively high. Their knowledge and, above all, their practical experience are outstanding. The rocket unveiled today demonstrates just how many excellent innovations they have been able to devise and implement,” said Associate Professor Stanislav Vítek in praise of the team.
The origins of CTU Space Research date back to 2021, when three former students took part in the Czech Rocket Challenge. It was at this competition that the idea of establishing their own team focused on advanced rocket technology was born. Twenty members joined the team in its very first year.
“The Czech Rocket Challenge has become a firm fixture for us. We have taken part every year since then, continually honing our rocketry skills. We have come a long way since 2021. We are no longer a small group, but a 70-member team with 13 successful rocket launches under its belt. In addition to these launches, we have successfully completed 11 static-fire tests of our hybrid motors over the past three years,” recalled team captain Ondřej Winkler.
As well as CTU students, the team also includes students from other institutions, including Charles University.
Photos by Tomáš Sieger.
