Hypersonics

Overview

This year's team will be designing a hypersonic glide vehicle capable of traveling Mach 8 while maximizing range and manufacturing affordability. We will be competing in the national 2026 Undergraduate Hypersonic Flight Design Competition, hosted by the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH).

The previous team, SSTA’s Tachyon, won the 2025 Design Competition. A team that was made up entirely of undergraduates who had never taken a Compressible Flow class before that point.

Key Systems

• Computer Aided Design: Full 3D modeling of the vehicle's external and internal structure, being able to rapidly iterate geometry while maintaining manufacturability across all subsystems.
• Thermomechanical Engineering: Custom internal structures and a custom designed thermal protection system to ensure the vehicle survives the flight.
• Aerodynamics: Detailed aerodynamic analysis to manage lift, drag, control, shock interactions and the boundary layer across the full speed range using CFD and wind tunnel testing.
• Guidance, Navigation, & Control: Custom guidance and trajectory simulation and a control architecture designed to maintain stability and trajectory accuracy to maximize range.