At the Georgia Institute of Technology, a student-led engineering team is tackling one of aerospace engineering's most demanding challenges: building a rocket capable of taking off vertically and landing under its own power.
Propulsive Landers at Georgia Tech (GTPL) is developing autonomous flight systems and hybrid rocket propulsion technology with an ambitious goal: becoming the first student team to achieve vertical takeoff and landing using a hybrid rocket.
Through hands-on engineering, experimental testing, and aerospace research, the organization is giving Georgia Tech students opportunities to contribute directly to the development of reusable rocket technology.
What Is Propulsive Landers at Georgia Tech?
Propulsive Landers at Georgia Tech is a student-run aerospace engineering organization focused on reusable hybrid rocket development.
Unlike traditional student rocketry projects that primarily focus on reaching a maximum altitude, GTPL is designing a rocket that can perform controlled flight maneuvers and eventually land vertically.
The team brings together students working across propulsion, structures, avionics, guidance, navigation, and control systems.
Its central project, Monarch, is a reusable rocket lander designed around a 1,000-newton-class hybrid propulsion system.
Why Hybrid Rocket Technology Matters
Reusable rocket technology has become an important part of modern aerospace engineering. Recovering and reusing vehicles can reduce hardware costs and support more frequent launches.
However, achieving controlled vertical landing presents substantial engineering challenges.
GTPL is exploring these challenges using hybrid rocket propulsion, which combines a solid fuel with a separately stored liquid or gaseous oxidizer.
Hybrid propulsion offers an alternative to conventional liquid and solid rocket engines, with characteristics that make it an interesting candidate for experimental reusable vehicles.
The team's research includes engine throttling, combustion behavior, flight dynamics, and autonomous landing algorithms.
Developing Monarch: A Student-Built Reusable Rocket Lander
Monarch represents the team's primary effort to demonstrate controlled vertical flight using hybrid propulsion.
The project integrates several critical aerospace engineering systems, including:
- Propulsion: A 1,000 N-class nitrous oxide and paraffin-based hybrid rocket engine.
- Guidance, Navigation, and Control: Flight algorithms designed to calculate trajectories and maintain stability.
- Avionics: Custom electronic systems for collecting sensor data, communicating telemetry, and supporting flight operations.
- Thrust Control: A throttle valve designed to regulate oxidizer flow and adjust engine thrust.
- Attitude Control: Systems designed to control the rocket's orientation during flight.
Each subsystem must work together to support the team's long-term objective of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing.
From Engineering Concepts to Real Testing
One of GTPL's significant milestones came on November 9, 2025, when the team successfully hot-fired a hybrid rocket engine, an achievement it describes as the first of its kind in Georgia Tech's history.
The test marked an important step toward validating the propulsion system for future flight experiments.
GTPL also contributes to academic aerospace research. Its students have presented technical work at American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) conferences, covering topics such as hybrid rocket propulsion, powered-descent optimization, and aerodynamic performance.
At the 2026 AIAA Region II Student Conference, the team earned third place in its category for work involving its 1,000 N engine.
These efforts connect classroom concepts with practical engineering, allowing students to investigate challenges that aerospace companies and research organizations encounter.
Hands-On Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech
Beyond developing rocket technology, GTPL provides students with experience in engineering design, research, manufacturing, testing, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Working on a reusable rocket requires knowledge from multiple technical disciplines. Propulsion engineers must understand combustion and fluid dynamics, while guidance and control engineers develop mathematical models that help a vehicle navigate and stabilize itself.
Avionics engineers contribute the electronics and software needed to collect data and support control decisions.
Together, these responsibilities create opportunities for students to apply their academic knowledge to a challenging engineering project.
The Future of Propulsive Landers
GTPL's broader objective is to demonstrate that student engineering teams can contribute meaningfully to the development of reusable flight technology.
Future flight milestones include tethered hovering, controlled powered descent, and vertical hop demonstrations.
Achieving these goals requires continued testing, technical development, and collaboration across the organization's engineering teams.
As reusable spaceflight technology continues to evolve, projects like GTPL provide students with practical exposure to the complex systems involved in modern rocket development.
To learn more about the team, explore its research, and follow its progress, visit the official Propulsive Landers at Georgia Tech website.
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