RED - Rocket Experiment Division

We are RED - Rocket Experiment Division, a project within AeroTéc - Student Association for Aerospace Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon, a pioneering project in Portugal, dedicated to the development, production, and launch of rockets for scientific and educational purposes. Our team is composed of 90 members from diverse academic backgrounds, and so far, we have successfully launched 8 rockets.

In 2022, we participated in the international competition EuRoC – European Rocketry Challenge, where we secured 1st place in the 3000-meter category, making us vice-champions among a total of 19 teams. It was in this same competition that we made history by becoming the first Portuguese team to successfully launch and recover a rocket. In 2023, we brought the Camões Rocket to EuRoC, where we once again earned the title of vice-champions and also received the Payload Award. This motivated us to strive for even greater excellence, and as a result, we earned the Flight Award with our latest mission, Adamastor.

In the same year, we proudly inaugurated the Azores Space Base with our Gama mission, a milestone that marked a new era for our team and solidified our commitment to pushing the boundaries of space exploration. This achievement laid the foundation for future innovations, reinforcing our role in the ever-evolving aerospace industry.

Here is the recap video of our 2025 journey, showcasing all our missions!



Now, we are developing an ambitious hybrid propulsion rocket—a groundbreaking project that marks a significant leap forward in our technical capabilities and vision.

Our goal with this hybrid propulsion system extends beyond tackling new engineering challenges; we aim to contribute to the advancement of sustainable and efficient aerospace technologies. This project integrates cutting-edge propulsion design, innovative materials, and rigorous testing to ensure both performance and safety. The knowledge and expertise gained through this endeavor will not only strengthen our team but also shape our future contributions to the portuguese aerospace industry.

The Electronics Team is responsible for designing, assembling, testing and integrating all Avionics System’s SRAD PCBs. The functions of these PCBs range from the regulation and management of the Li-Ion batteries’ power to the gathering of all in-flight data from the sensors, including the ejection of the SRAD Recovery and the actuation of the airbrakes’ servo.

1) The Recovery PCB, Nick, carries all the required circuits to deploy the dual-stage SRAD Recovery System, ensuring robustness and redundancy. It also houses a 1080p Camera that records the motion of both parachutes throughout the descent.

2) The Power Management PCB, Fish Out of Water, is responsible for regulating and distributing the power that is provided by the Li-Ion batteries to all other PCBs. It contains overcurrent and overcharge protection circuits to ensure the safety of the entire system. Additionally, it contains the redundant Flight Computer.

3) The Flight Computer PCB, Chicken Little, is the brain of the Avionics system, being responsible for sending every command during the flight and retrieving all flight data, transmitting them to the SRAD Ground Station. It holds an STM microcontroller and several redundant sensors.

4) The Control PCB, Stitch, houses the telemetry radio module, the safety switches and the black box. 

Additionally, the Electronics Team develops in-house PCBs for ground operations, such as Mission Control’s Ground Station, the Propulsion Team’s Data Test Bench and an Antenna Tracker.

Partnering up with PCBWay would not only allow us to develop more sophisticated systems but it would also the team to be more innovative by providing further quick prototyping and testing capabilities. As the project embraces the tough challenge that is developing a hybrid-propulsion competition rocket, PCBWay would play an instrumental role in diminishing the logistical issues related to the supply chain and budget, ensuring the project can meet its deadlines properly and bring a competitive rocket to EuRoC once again.