Building Carbon Neutral, Biofuel-Powered Rockets

By James Eysenbach '23

Applying new techniques and working with special tools to construct an environmentally conscious rocket

James and their coworker work on a structural segment of the rocket.

This summer, I worked with Sam Bonauto ‘25 at bluShift Aerospace in Brunswick, Maine. bluShift is building carbon neutral, biofuel powered rockets that will launch from the coast of Maine. After a successful launch of their first rocket Stardust in 2020, bluShift is now developing a new suborbital rocket, Starless Rogue.

Sam and I were tasked with creating 24-inch diameter carbon fiber tubes to be used as the fuselage of the Starless Rogue. We used a low-cost filament winder called the X-Winder originally designed to create 8-inch diameter tubes.

Over 10 weeks we assembled the winder, learned the accompanying software, built mandrels to wind on, developed a winding protocol, and expanding the machine in every dimension to create 24-inch diameter tubes.

We learn specific skills like working with filament and epoxy, using power tools, and fabrication of parts. We also learned to work together to tackle issues that presented themselves at every step.

Internship funded by the Steven P. Heinrich '67 Internship Fund.

Published October 02, 2023