CU Spaceflight is a student-run Cambridge
University society founded with the aim of
achieving cheap access to space.
It is supported by the Cambridge-MIT Institute.
== History ==
The 
project was founded in the summer of 2006,
with the specific goal of launching a rocket
into space for less than GBP£1000.As of November,
2007, CU Spaceflight has launched five uncrewed
high-altitude balloons, of which two were
not successful: Nova 2 was blown into the
North Sea and Nova 5 failed to ignite the
Martlet 1 solid rocket motor, but landed in
a reusable state.
CU Spaceflight is a participant of the UK
High Altitude Society.
=== Owlstone Photography Prize ===
On 27 June 2007, CU Spaceflight won the Owlstone
Photography Prize, having submitted an unenhanced
photograph from the Nova 1 flight, displaying
the curvature of the Earth as seen from Near
space.
The entry was entitled "Earth from 32km".
CU Spaceflight won a cash prize and 25-hours
of workshop time.
== Projects ==
As of 2007, Cambridge University Spaceflight
has three projects which it is pursuing; all
three are critical to the long-term goal of
successfully launching a rocket into space
and retrieving it.
=== Nova ===
Nova is CU Spaceflight's first project and
has the objective of launching high-altitude
balloons on test flights to near space.
The lifting gas used is helium.
=== Meteor ===
Meteor is a project designed to provide a
landing system for falling body to a 100-metre
accuracy, from any point within the Earth's
atmosphere.
The Meteor project will use a paraglider to
land objects.
=== Martlet ===
Martlet is the project aimed at the development
of a small rocket and launch system which
can be launched from a Nova balloon in the
upper atmosphere.
CU Spaceflight aim the final Martlet rocket
to be less than 1 metre long, weigh 3.5 kilograms,
and carry a 0.5 kg payload.
The intended cost per launch is less than
GBP£1000.
The rocket will be a solid-fuel rocket.
Its objective is to reach suborbital space
- i.e. reaching altitudes in excess of 100
km (the boundary of space).
The idea of a balloon-launched rocket - a
rockoon - is not new, but is rarely practiced.
The incentives for air-based launch are that
the altitude the balloons reach are in the
near space region - which is above 99% of
the atmosphere - thus resulting in significantly
less atmospheric drag, requiring far less
rocket fuel.
== Press coverage ==
Since its inception, Cambridge University
Spaceflight has been covered by several major
news sources, including The Guardian and BBC
News.Photos from the Nova 9 launch were printed
in many national newspapers including The
Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail.
Members of the team also gave interviews to
the Discovery Channel, Sky News and the BBC
World Service.
== Recognition ==
Following the success of Nova 1 and the announcement
of the Martlet and Meteor projects, CU Spaceflight
has received interest from the university's
Department for Atmospheric Chemistry and the
British Antarctic Survey on the results of
its work.
== Outreach ==
CU Spaceflight has performed talks in secondary
schools in and around Cambridge, UK, and continues
to offer to do so, hoping to raise the profile
of engineering and aerospace in particular.
During the 2007 Cambridge Science Festival,
CU Spaceflight launched their Nova 5 balloon
in front of a large crowd.
== See also ==
High-altitude balloon
Amateur rocketry
Spaceflight
