Purdue Orbital

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Purdue Orbital Our goal is to design, test, and implement systems that are capable of achieving orbit for small sat

Our goal is to further space flight technology through designing, testing, and implementing systems to achieve orbit for small satellite platforms at an affordable price. To achieve this goal, we are designing a launch vehicle that will propel a 1 kg or less satellite into orbit around the earth for a non-reusable cost of less than $4500 and an orbit duration of at least three orbits.

2 weeks ago we made Purdue Orbital history by performing 2 hotfires in one day! Through our Sisyphus project, we've incr...
10/02/2026

2 weeks ago we made Purdue Orbital history by performing 2 hotfires in one day! Through our Sisyphus project, we've increased our operational capacity to design, build, and test more solid motors in one semester than ever before.

The data collected from these hotfires will inform future decisions and designs for our flightweight motors.

Tune in to our youtube live stream this Saturday (10/03) at 12pm for when we return to Zucrow for round 2!

Last week, Purdue Orbital completed System Requirements Reviews (SRRs) for all three of our programs!As part of the even...
09/22/2026

Last week, Purdue Orbital completed System Requirements Reviews (SRRs) for all three of our programs!

As part of the event, our members also had the opportunity to hear from Austin Renwick, a Systems Architect at Boeing, about the role systems engineering plays throughout a product’s lifecycle and where the field is headed in the future.

The SRRs gave our teams a chance to finalize the mission requirements that will guide each program while giving members a deeper understanding of systems engineering and the systems level challenges our projects will have to tackle.

With our requirements established, we’re now ready to move into preliminary design and take another step toward bringing this year’s missions to life.

Stay tuned for an update on our Propulsion team's static hot fire tests đź‘€.

Thanks to everyone who attended our callout! We had phenomenal turnout tonight and our members enjoyed sharing the progr...
08/28/2026

Thanks to everyone who attended our callout! We had phenomenal turnout tonight and our members enjoyed sharing the programs and projects we've been working on and look forward to reviewing your applications.

Weren't able to make it? Our callout slides are available on our website (purdueorbital.com) along with our application. Applications should be submitted by the end of this weekend (8/31)

We hope you join us as we continue to push higher, faster, further

Hear from our leadership team and find out about how you can contribute as we push higher, faster, and further than ever...
08/23/2026

Hear from our leadership team and find out about how you can contribute as we push higher, faster, and further than ever before!

(And did we mention there's free pizza? RSVP using the link in our bio so we don't run out)

Come say hello and get your questions answered at one of our events this week!
08/22/2026

Come say hello and get your questions answered at one of our events this week!

Come say hello and get your questions answered at one of our upcoming events!
08/22/2026

Come say hello and get your questions answered at one of our upcoming events!

Our members stayed busy this summer đź‘€Both on and off campus, our members continued to set themselves apart across the gl...
08/14/2026

Our members stayed busy this summer đź‘€

Both on and off campus, our members continued to set themselves apart across the globe. The skills they learned from these experiences will be foundational to jump starting their careers after graduation, and in the meantime help push Orbital Higher, Faster, Further

Purdue Day of Giving has arrived‼️ (Link below)We're only able to accomplish what we do thanks to the support we recieve...
04/29/2026

Purdue Day of Giving has arrived‼️ (Link below)

We're only able to accomplish what we do thanks to the support we recieve, which today is about people like you!

If you're interested in helping us achieve our goals, consider donating today so that we can continue pushing higher, faster, and further than ever before.

https://dayofgiving.purdue.edu/campaigns/orbital

The link can also be found in our Bio!

And last (but far from least!) for the 25-26 school year was Purdue Orbital's first EVER successful High Altitude Balloo...
04/28/2026

And last (but far from least!) for the 25-26 school year was Purdue Orbital's first EVER successful High Altitude Balloon launch!

Carrying avionics for tracking and balloon detachment, as well a GNC cold gas control system for roll stabilization, this achievement is a giant leap towards realizing the goal that sits at the core of Purdue Orbital: Launching a high powered rocket from a balloon mounted launch structure, aka a rockoon!

So what comes next? We take a step back and analyze what worked, what didn't, and mostly importantly we begin building off of the lessons learned from this launch as we continue to push towards the goals that inspire us.

Good luck on your finals Boilermakers, and we hope to see you all back next year! Boiler up, best of luck to our graduating seniors, and go Orbital!

Want to help us achieve our goals? We encourage you to donate to Orbital on Purdue Day of Giving this Wednesday, April 29th, using the link in our bio!

Before a rocket ever leaves the ground, the motor that powers its flight must undergo extensive testing, which is exactl...
04/27/2026

Before a rocket ever leaves the ground, the motor that powers its flight must undergo extensive testing, which is exactly what our propulsion team was up to just this Saturday!

Using two motor grains made in-house, this test was the first using both our in-house 98mm test bed as well as a custom data acquisition (DAQ) setup. Both of these system proved themselves this weekend, laying the ground work for further propellant characterization and allowing for testing of new grain geometries for future Purdue Orbital motors.

Tests like these allow us to accomplish bigger and better things as we move closer to goals that may have seemed out of reach not all that long ago. With Purdue Day of Giving just around the corner this Wednesday, April 29th, we hope to raise funds that will allow us to go higher, faster, and further than ever before as we look towards the future. If you want to support Purdue Orbital, you can follow the link that will be in our bio this Wednesday to donate and help make these dreams possible.

Congratulations to everyone who made this test a resounding success, and go Orbital!

(I hope you don't think that's all we did this weekend, stay tuned to find out what brought out team to Kokomo municipal airport just this morning...)

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West Lafayette, IN
47907

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