With this goal in mind, they will launch their Stratos III solid-fuel rocket into orbit on July 24 in El Arenosillo in southern Spain. The supply of oxidizing agent to the combustion chamber is controlled by a brushless DC servo motor from Faulhaber.

The students not only developed the rocket itself, but also the fuel. It consists of a mixture of kerosene wax, aluminum powder and the sugar substitute sorbitol. The oxygen required for combustion is supplied in the form of nitrous oxide (_N2O, also known as laughing gas). When the fuel is burned, a small amount of _N2Oremains in the tank. If it were to enter the combustion chamber, the engine could be destroyed and the rocket damaged. For this reason, the supply line is closed with a valve immediately after combustion. Its drive consists of a 4490...BS series brushless DC servomotor from Faulhaber, which is equipped with a K1155 analog Hall sensor, a 38A series gearbox and an MCBL3006 S RS series controller.

The Faulhaber motor (black cylinder) is used to drive the valve that regulates the supply of oxidizing agent. © Faulhaber

"We have very little space in the rocket, so the drive has to be as small and light as possible, but at the same time very strong and absolutely reliable. It also has to be able to withstand the violent shock of take-off after opening the valve in less than half a second," explains Jesse Hummel, Team Manager of Stratos III. "We looked around intensively for available motors for this task. The Faulhaber model was the only one that would fit and deliver enough torque." The diameter of the 8.2 meter long rocket is only 28 centimeters.

In October 2015, DARE launched its Stratos II+ rocket to an altitude of 21.5 kilometers, setting a new European altitude record for amateur space travel. However, this has since been broken by a rocket from the University of Stuttgart and now stands at 32.3 kilometers. Stratos III is expected to reach a good deal higher than this altitude. At the same time, the record attempt will be used to collect data for atmospheric research with various instruments on board the rocket capsule. The capsule is to fall into the sea, slowed down by parachutes, and be recovered from there.

Faulhaber specializes in the development, production and use of high-precision miniature and microdrive systems, servo components and control systems with an output power of up to 200 watts. The product range includes brushless motors, DC micromotors, encoders and motion controllers.