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The set a Canadian amateur rocketry record for a rocket with a custom-built engine at the Launch Canada 2024 competition.

The third annual – an industry-partnered inter-collegiate rocket competition – was held between Aug. 17-23 in Mattagami, Ont., and featured 24 student rocketry teams.

The UTAT team, which finished second in the advanced category, launched its rocket, Defiance Mk. IV, to an altitude of 30,000 feet.

“We’re incredibly proud of setting that record,” said Luca Castelletto, the team’s former director and a recent graduate of the engineering science program in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

“This was our team’s third year in the competition. The first year, we launched our rocket and won the competition; the second year we had an ignition failure and couldn’t launch. So, we knew the different outcomes that we could expect and prepared as best we could.”  

The Defiance Mk. IV rocket was built using a hybrid-engine design approach that allowed for more efficiency to reach higher altitudes. The 18-foot rocket combines elements of a liquid engine – where two liquid propellants, fuel and oxidizer, are stored separately – and a solid engine, where the propellent is packed into a solid cylinder.