Ishwar Mahesh – SEPnet Internship Designing Orientation Thruster Array At Tranquility
Aerospace Summer 2014
Who are Tranquility Aerospace?
My role within the company
• Tranquility Aerospace are an engineering company
based on the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire. They
offer engineering services across a wide range of
technologies and robotic engineering disciplines.
• The company’s technology design experience has mean
they have amassed a large portfolio of clients, working
with their clients throughout the process, from concept
through to final design.
• The main aim of my internship was to have fully designed the orientation thruster array in the two
month period that I was working for Tranquility. The purpose of the orientation thrusters was to make
sure that the rocket remained vertical and did not spin about its vertical axis as it came down to land.
• It was ascertained via some preliminary calculations that the best place for the thruster array to be
situated was at the top where it could have maximum effect.
• The next task at hand was to work out the configuration of the thrusters within the array. After many
design iterations, it was decided that 6 thrusters would be needed. Below is a screenshot of the
thruster configuration.
• In addition to this, the company builds the systems it
designs, either using off the shelf or bespoke
equipment depending on the client’s needs.
The Devon One Rocket
• The Devon One is a reusable rocket that is
aimed at providing micro-gravity
experiments scientific research. The
experiments can be retrieved from the
rocket for further analysis once the rocket
has landed.
• The main part of the design was done using a CAD software called SolidWorks. I was unfamiliar with
SolidWorks having never worked with CAD software before, but with help I was able to complete the
task. Below is a picture of an individual thruster.
• The rocket will be fully reusable, with a
vertical take off and vertical landing. It will
be able to carry a payload of up to 30kg.
• There will also be orientation thrusters
installed at the top of the rocket. My work
during the internship consisted of
designing the thrusters and their
configuration at the top of the rocket.
• As the design process evolved, I also had to source components for the array. One of the key aims of
the design for the whole rocket is that as many off the shelf components are used, which had to be
taken into account during the design process due to weight constraints.
• The design has now been built and will be implemented in the final design of the Devon One rocket.