17/08/2026
NU Rocketry introduces our latest project, ‘Wedgetail.’
In June, a team of NU Rocketry members and a technical advisor went to Texas, USA to compete in the 2026 International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC).
This rocket displays the ongoing innovation and development that NU Rocketry strives for. Wedgetail marks a significant milestone in our history by being the first competition rocket to integrate a student research project separate to payload.
NU Rocketry would like to give a massive thanks to ESRA for organising and running IREC and our sponsors and industry partners, as well as, all the friends, family and everyone in NUTeams and University of Newcastle for their ongoing love and support.
A massive appreciation goes to all those that helped make this rocket a reality by putting in a lot of hard work and long hours to accomplish the final product, Wedgetail.
The Structures department is responsible for the rocket’s airframe, both inside and out. Most components, like body tubes are manufactured in house using fibreglass and carbon fibre for its strength and weight with extensive material testing occurring on all components to ensure they withstand the forces seen during flight.
The Recovery department is in charge of ensuring the rocket has a safe descent. All recovery hardware is selected and tested to ensure it is able to endure all flight forces. Avionics stacks are designed to be easily integrable and effectively house flight computers.
The payload is a Thermoelectric Temperature control system. The system was designed with the intention of minimal moving parts to increase reliability in harsh conditions. During the competition, we experienced a data corruption event and were not able to determine the success of the system.
This airbrake was developed from the work of previous members and designed with the purpose of slowing the rocket down during flight to target a specific apogee. During a flight test the airbrake successfully gathered significant amounts of data that will aid future progress of the system however failed to activate entirely resulting in it being disabled at competition.
A small group of NU Rocketry members journe
