Projects
SFR0
The rocket we used to flight-validate the subsystems of SFR, integrating
a COTS solid motor into SFR1's airframe with the fewest possible changes.
Launched, recovered and analysed end to end.
Mission replay - 05 May 2025 · 12:15
reconstructed from SRAD avionics «Baldassarre» + EasyMini data01 - The mission
SFR0 is a technology demonstrator, a bridge toward SFR1, the team's first hybrid-propulsion rocket. The goal was to fly SFR1's real architecture (airframe, avionics and recovery) while swapping the propulsion module for a COTS Pro98 2G solid motor, changing as little as possible.
Originally planned for Molinella in late 2024, the launch moved to the Aremogna plateau in Roccaraso, Italy, and flew successfully on 5 May 2025. The vehicle climbed past its target, hit a recovery anomaly, and still came back under control and structurally intact.
02 - The flight
Remote ignition, clean rail exit and a climb that tracked the simulations: the real burn ran slightly longer than predicted, carrying the rocket to an apogee of ≈1289 m (target 1000 ± 100 m) at T+18 s, with the onboard avionics logging the full dynamic profile.
At apogee the main parachute deployed early, out of sequence with the flight plan. With the rocket inside cloud the reconstruction was hard, but onboard video and SRAD data pinned down the event. Descent still proceeded under canopy at ≈9.5 m/s to touchdown, the only notable damage a ~10 cm tear in the recovery skin, cut by a parachute line.
03 - Inside SFR0
Motor module
COTS Cesaroni Pro98 2G solid (5342-M1560-P-WT) in a purpose-built mount with a quick-release clamp — the only all-new module compared to SFR1. Fins ride on the composite monocoque.
- Total impulse
- 5342 Ns
- Peak thrust
- 1809 N
- Burn measured
- ~3.7 s
04 - The work behind it
05 -The final outcome
Overall the launch counts as a success: controlled recovery, full telemetry captured, and hard-won operational experience for SFR1. Apogee and landing point fell outside tolerance (the latter because of the main anomaly), and a few programme requirements, launch site and date, and the onboard radio link, weren't completed in time.