The Aerospace and Rocket Engineering Society (ARES) is the University of Melbourne student engineering team who design, analyze and manufacture high-powered rockets. Our team comprises of over 70 students from multiple disciplines, backgrounds, and nationalities across both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We encourage students who are interested in aerospace and rocketry to join ARES.
Safety and design quality are of utmost importance at ARES. We prioritize these aspects in all our endeavors and ensure that our projects are executed using an industry-standard systems engineering approach. Our commitment to safe engineering practices has been instrumental in our competition achievements. Our goal as a team is to continue innovating and pushing the boundaries of our capabilities by striving to build a team that can learn from those that have come before, upskill new members efficiently and most importantly promote a culture that makes members feel empowered to be a part of.
HISTORY OF ARES
- 2019
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Established in 2019, the Society planned to participate in the Australian Youth Aerospace Association ‘s Australian Universities Rocketry Competition (AURC). Although the competition opportunities were halted for a couple years due to Covid-19 the team continued to learn and grow.
- 2022
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ARES entered the Spaceport America Cup (SAC) competition. Our team travelled to New Mexico for our inaugural international competition. We were delighted to win the Charles Hoult Award for Modelling & Simulation!
We were invited to present at the Podium Session and showed our work on the 'Design, analysis and manufacture of a 10'000ft sounding rocket with airframe diameter transition'.
- 2023
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We launched Deimos, our first ever 30,000 ft rocket, Deimos at the SAC in June 2023.
We presented at the 2023 Podium Session and showed our work on the 'SRAD future-proof flight computer'.
Spaceport America Cup
The Spaceport America Cup stands as the largest global competition and conference for intercollegiate rocket engineering. Organized in partnership with Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic, and the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA), this event has participation from over 120 teams hailing from colleges and universities across twenty nations. The competition continues to witness remarkable growth annually. Students compete by launching solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets aimed at reaching altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.
ARES acknowledges that our significant accomplishments would not have been possible without the invaluable support of our sponsors. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our partners for their generous contributions, which have been instrumental in bringing our rocketry projects to life. Their unwavering support has not only enabled us to achieve our milestones but has also provided our team members with invaluable learning experiences and unparalleled opportunities for growth. Their contributions have helped make the team what it is today. We've been incredibly fortunate to have received such strong support.
The University of Melbourne:
ARES operates to benefi
t all University of Melbourne students interested in the aerospace industry, proudly maintaining affiliation with both the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) and the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU).The school has generously provided space, funding and materials for us to construct our rockets. The school also provides academic support and research opportunities to grow as a team. Their amazing facilities such as the Telstra Creator Space and the Melbourne School of Design have been invaluable as tools to help build the rocket. All the academics who have assisted to help grow our technical knowledge have also been such great support for the team.
MCHND Pty Ltd:
MCHND Pty Ltd have been invaluable to the manufacturing of our 2024 competition rocket. Their extensive in-kind contribution of the highest-quality CNC'd parts and their manufacturing expertise has enabled our sub-teams to be innovative and successful. The parts allow us to have perfectly fitted components with highly detailed parts.
Leap Australia:
Leap Australia generously provide our student team w
ith Onshape, a CAD software for managing projects and large teams. Its user-friendly interface, version control, and capabilities have saved us countless headaches. We have also benefited from Leap's advice and expertise in Onshape and ANSYS software, enhancing our engineering processes. With ANSYS's CFD and FEA capabilities, we can accurately simulate our rocket's performance and ensure safe air braking operations.
Epsilon3:
Epsilon3 have bee
n a key contributor to our teams success. Their software platform manages complex operational procedures, saving operators time and reducing errors. Their interactive real-time synchronized procedures allow us to effectively manage our highly detailed checklist by sub-team. Their offline run capability is perfect to use at the launch sites when connection is limited.
ACOR:
ACOR kindly provide our team with merchandise as well as knowledge and workshops to support our diversity and inclusion initiatives. Their brand values align very closely with the ARES Rocketry team and we are very grateful to have their support. They have a very successful delivery on their large-scale multi-disciplined projects, as well as smaller niche projects and are well known for their team culture and professional development. We have enjoyed learning from them about team organization and management.
The other sponsors and stakeholders, we are fortunate to be able to rely on:
- Telstra Creator Space
- Projet Cutting
- QinetiQ
- Boeing Australia
- Jubilee Springs
- Victorian Rocketry Association
- Autovanity
- Cyborg Dynamics
- Sign Wise
- Global Refinishing Supplies
- Wichard
- Ansys
- Onshape
If you are interested in sponsoring the team reach out as we would love to have you onboard. Feel free to reach out via email or through any of our other contact methods.
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Spaceport America Cup 2023
The 2023 SAC Team's trip to New Mexico to compete in the Spaceport America Cup tournament
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Serpentine Launch
Our pre-SAC launch in Serpentine, Victoria hosted by the Victorian Rocketry Association
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Launch Night
The first presentation of our complete rocket to the sponsors, supporters and general society members
Project recruitment
To be eligible to join ARES’ projects, you must be:
- A current University of Melbourne student (any degree).
- Willing and able to commit significant time and effort to ARES’ projects.
Applications to the leadership teams of ARES’ flagship rocketry projects are now closed, with project leadership already in place.
However, ARES is always on the lookout for capable and enthusiastic students for our project subsystem teams.
Subteams
- Aerodynamics
- Avionics
- Flight Simulations
- Operations and logistics
- Payload
- Propulsion
- Structures
- Recovery
ARES is continuously seeking new members to join our team. Our diverse group comprises students from various degree backgrounds who come together to collaborate on designing, constructing, and testing our projects. Whether you are pursuing a degree in aeronautical engineering, computer science or studying business, we warmly welcome any University of Melbourne student to apply to the team. Although degrees in engineering, computer science or business will be most relevant to the work we are doing. To apply, lodge an application during our recruitment drives as advertised on social media. If we are not actively recruiting but you are interested in joining our projects, reach out to us as we may still consider your application.
Applications are CLOSED.
Please email ares-rocketry@unimelb.edu.au if you have any enquiries and follow along on our social media for updates about our next recruitment round.