DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 3 June) — Qualified for this year’s Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) 2025 in Midland, Texas in the United States, the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) Rocketry team targets to launch a student-made rocket which could reach up to 30,000 feet.
Rogel Mari Sese, chair of the AdDU Aerospace Engineering (ASE) department and the mentor of the AdDU’s 13-man delegation, said that this is the first time they will be competing at the 30,000 feet commercial off-the-shelf category.
“So if successful, this will be the highest altitude achieved by any Philippine-made rocket.
So that is one of our goals,” Sese said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The 13-man delegation include Avery Clyde Dimasuhid (the overall team lead), Franz Carlo Guevara (flight operations lead), Derick Jhon Garay, Mariz Aylah Cenoja, Jeff Joaquin Jao (rocket structure staff), Azaella Beatriz Amposta; Clarence James Valenzuela (avionics), Niel Andrie Paye (recovery lead), Angelo Ryan Dolina, Aidan Ryan Evangelista (payload staff), Carlos Leo Panelo (financing staff), Nhorman Carl Baluran (documentation staff), and Fritzie Mae Maniquez (sponsorships staff).
For this year’s competition, the team developed a new rocket named “Siklab” (meaning spark or blaze) and aims to shoot for a much greater height of 30,000 feet.
The AdDU ASE also competed in the 10,000 feet commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) category during the Spaceport America Cup held in New Mexico, USA last June 2024.
“It’s a much higher altitude, which has a much higher technical challenge. Just to give an idea, when we talk about 10,000 feet, this is almost the same height as Mount Apo. But when we talk about 30,000 feet, this is already almost the same altitude as the cruising altitude of aircrafts,” Sese.
Asked of the student participants challenges, Dimasuhid explained that they have to balance their studies, creating an overlap between project deadlines and their academic calendar, particularly during midterms and finals.
The project timeline spanned about their two semesters: one for planning and procurement, and another for assembly and testing.
Franz Carlo Guevara, the team’s flight operations lead, said that the new rocket is taller (approximately 11 feet) and slimmer (4 inches in diameter), compared to last year’s 9.7-foot, 6-inch diameter rocket.
The rocket would also feature a payload which includes sensors capable of measuring air quality, including carbon dioxide and oxygen levels, during flight.
He added that the team reduced the payload weight from 8.8 pounds (4 kg) to 2 kg, aligning with updated Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) regulations—an adjustment that would allow them to aim for 30,000 feet in altitude.
Another key upgrade is the addition of a flight camera to record and later share the launch. The rocket will now reach speeds of Mach 1.7 (around 600 meters per second), a significant increase from last year’s Mach 0.
7. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
