r/AerospaceEngineering

Hello everyone,

I'm designing a gas-generator rocket engine feed system from scratch (including regenerative cooling) in EcosimPro as part of a university project.

I was looking for a detailed P&ID to better understand the typical plumbing architecture of a liquid rocket engine, including the valves, piping, and instrumentation required from the propellant tank outlet to the injector interface.

I've searched extensively online, but I haven't been able to find the level of detail I'm looking for. I'm particularly interested in references such as technical papers, books, reports, or publicly available engine documentation that explain the design philosophy behind the fluid system.

For example, I'd like to understand questions such as:

• Why is the Main Fuel Valve (MFV) often located upstream of the regenerative cooling circuit?
• Under what circumstances are check valves preferred over actively controlled valves?
• What drives the placement and selection of components such as filters, purge lines, pressure transducers, relief valves, and flow control devices?

I'm not looking to copy an existing design; rather, I'd like to understand the engineering rationale behind the layout and component selection so I can develop my own system from first principles.

If anyone can recommend good references or share useful resources, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

For context, I am a rising sophomore in AAE at a good uni. Due to circumstances, however, I’m currently on track to graduate in 2 yrs (2028) and can do very little to alter this. I have a okay GPA of 3.49 with a year’s worth of experience on a rocketry team at my school, with that mainly being contributing to thermal analysis and engine mounts. On top of that, I have a few minor personal projects but that’s it at the moment.

With that background in mind, I’ve (unsurprisingly) had a very tough time while searching for internships, with me applying to 100+ internships over the past year but haven’t heard back from a single one. This has caused me to feel very lost and not really sure on what next steps to take, which has only been compounded due to the limited time I have before I graduate.

I plan to approach profs for research opportunities this coming year and am in the middle of a personal project where I’m designing an injector using CFD. But I’m not sure that that will be enough to land me my first internship.

So with that in mind, I was wondering if I could get some advice on what I should do/prioritize to land that first internship?

So i have questions beacuse after I se the x29 and su47 I start wondering why there is no reverse swept wings aircraft again?

What are the main challenges here, sensor accuracy, actuators, aerodynamics, thrust vectoring, or something else? What would make control systems more difficult for small rockets (< 1 meter)?

Hi everyone,

Do you have any recommendations for a collection of out there plane, helicopter or rocket designs that are not mainstream but are out there designs that could possibly work?

Even artist renderings are welcome. I'm looking to either combine or improve upon these designs in some way, then flush them through a design cad for stress testing (if you know of an AI enhanced software that would be great) and design modification.

Utlimately would like to design something that could work on the moon and earth.

Thanks in advance!

For context in a couple months I will be starting my IB personal project and I was wondering what type of projects should I do? I’ve always wanted to make model rockets however in the country I live in, you are literally not allowed to have/buy them at all. I’m looking for something kind of functional to be cool to present.

Would love any help thanks

Is it okay for an operations manager to block you from going to see an issue with the QE that you found. So that you dont see anymore issues and or influence the outcome?

And to be more annoyed at me than the issue itself?

This was a safety critical one and a previous notice of escape.

I am preparing to start testing my textile parachutes with drop tests and "run" tests and I need a way to measure the drag created by the parachute. I want to connect a load cell between parachute and drop test capsule and import the time-load data in excel after the drop. How do I do that? Where should I buy this stuff? My loads will (hopefully) be under 10kg on the load cell. I am not doing this those tests with any real goals, I'm doing these for fun and to get experience with parachutes. ChatGpt tells me to buy an "S" load cell and connect it to arduino.

Also, does anyone know some papers similar to the "Parachutes for Planetary Entry Systems"?

My background is in gas dynamics. In undergrad I studied fluid mechanics and thermo more than anything else, and I would like to tie into that professionally or in my spare time.

Are there any fields that need more engineers desperately with challenges that go beyond basic optimization or production?

The traditional way to teach a lot of aerospace engineering is to start small and build up to complicated models.

This works to teach theory but it’s off putting for some and doesn’t really reflect how we do real aircraft design.

So I’m modifying my website (aircraftflightmechanics.com) to do it the other way around.

I’ve built a linear and nonlinear 6DoF aircraft sim that you can perturb, compare, design controllers.

My intent is to build out modules that explain what each bit of the model is for and how it works.

Things like “ok, so we need to understand translation and rotation - let’s do translation first because it’s easier with Newtons Second Law, and then we’ll do rotation and understand what on earth the physical meaning of inertias are (and why they’re related to eigenvalues)”

Have a play with the sim - let me know what you think. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but the hard part is complete.

I genuinely think this is useful. I have nothing to gain from making this other than I enjoy it and I think we teach things awkwardly. If this falls afoul of “self promotion”, then that’s a shame. Not least of all because this is not my job any more nor do I profit in any way from this.

Career and Education questions should go here.

So hi guys.I'm Roy,the cofounder of the first space club of its sort in any public school in the entire country(Kenya,East Africa),and am here to call for all those space nerds out there on the continent.

In the wake of creating the space club,first of its kind,i saw it fit to begin an online community and future startup of Space engineering teen enthusiats in Africa who will,together with me and my team,work together in building and coming up with Aerospace solitions for our continent and the world.

So ill start with creating a subreddit then we could work from there peeps,you could also give me ideas on this however youd like this to go in achieving our mission,after all we're one(you could dm me directly).Under what i presume will be our parent company in the early stages,LEO SKY AFRICA(a company in kenya focused on space education to youth in africa,you can go check out their website)(not to mention we have some contact with the Kenya space agency we are yet to nurture)ive contacted a friend of mine in Ghana hopefully wherever you guys come from could help us with that too,the could come to your country and help building substancial space clubs for all you enthusiasts,the CEO...Mr.Kimani is super charismatic about Africa and space,trust me!...we've already began this seed planting all over our own country already,but its taking time for sure.

The name of the subreddit is gonna be r/sayari_ aerospace....lemme go put it up right now.So hope you guys like this initiative,I solemnly welcome all u guys to this task we'll take upon ourselves to build the African aerospace industry ground up and probably get even more of our enthusiastic friends on the continent. Thanks https://www.reddit.com/r/sayari_aerospace/s/vKwc4Zz388

Hey guys , I am currently trying to build a software for aerospace sector which involves a lot of automation and machine learning. I am currently looking for someone with good technical knowledge in automation tools and machine learning and sales person who is good at communication . If u are really interested in creating something let's connect and build it together

Hi! My cubesat student design team is considering incorporating a small, 2W resistive flexible heater in our design. The input voltage will be around 8-8.4V. We're open to using more expensive space-grade ones if we absolutely have to, but we're happy to try cheaper alternatives at first.

Are there suppliers you would recommend we look into? We saw that Omega and Minco sell high-quality & expensive ones, while JLCPCB manufactures custom polyimide resistive heaters for cheap, although those ones do not come with an outgassing certificate. We do have access to a TVAC chamber to test/certify hobby-grade COTS heaters. Thanks!

Horizontal Lunar Infrastructure Vehicle (AELIM LV-01) – Looking for Engineering Critique
I’ve been working on a conceptual lunar infrastructure vehicle called AELIM LV-01.
The basic idea is that a lunar lander shouldn’t stop being useful once it finishes delivering cargo. Instead, the vehicle is designed from the outset so that its structure can serve a long-term purpose after landing—habitat space, storage, laboratory volume, utility distribution, logistics support, etc.
The concept isn’t intended to replace Starship, Blue Moon, or any other transportation system. It’s more of a question about whether surface infrastructure can be incorporated into the delivered hardware from day one rather than added later.
At this point I’ve spent most of my time on the mission architecture and operational side of the concept. I haven’t yet done the detailed engineering work that would determine whether the idea actually closes from a mass and systems perspective.
Things I have not done yet:
Structural analysis
Thermal modeling
FEA
CAD
Detailed subsystem design
Mass budgeting
Before I spend time going further down that road, I’m curious where aerospace engineers think the major problems are likely to appear.
A few questions:
1. Structural Mass Trade
At what point does designing a vehicle for decades of surface use become less efficient than simply landing dedicated infrastructure separately?
2. Dust and Interface Reliability
The concept relies heavily on standardized interfaces for future expansion. How pessimistic should I be about long-term mechanical connections in a lunar dust environment?
3. Thermal Cycling
If a large horizontal structure sits through hundreds of lunar day/night cycles, what failure mechanisms would concern you most?
More generally, if someone dropped this concept on your desk and asked you to start a trade study tomorrow, what would be the first few parameters you’d try to constrain?
I’m not looking for people to agree with the concept. I’m much more interested in hearing what assumptions are most likely to fail.
I have a one-page abstract and a longer white paper if anyone wants additional context.

Working on a research project involving a swarm of autonomous drones that coordinate with each other. Need a simulator that supports:

Multi-drone / swarm simulation

PX4 SITL integration

ROS 2 compatibility

Control algorithm testing (PID, EKF etc.)

Professor suggested Gazebo. Is it the best option for this specific use case or are there better alternatives? (Webots, CoppeliaSim, ARGoS?)

Any experience with swarm setups appreciated.