Author: Rainer Groh

Podcast Ep. #13 – Skyrora’s Lead Engineer Robin Hague on Scotland’s New Satellite Launch Capability
Robin Hague is the Lead Engineer at the rocket startup Skyrora based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The goal of Skyrora is to provide a dedicated launch vehicle for small satellites. It has never been cheaper to build small satellites that provide imaging and communication services, and this sector of the space economy is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years. The UK is a world leader in the small satellite business—with Glasgow in Scotland building more satellites than any other city in Europe—but there is currently a shortfall of dedicated launchers for these satellite companies. Skyrora hopes to serve this market by launching rockets from Norther Scotland, which has great access to polar and sun-synchronous orbits. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering podcast Robin and I talk about:
- the history of British rocketry (the Black Arrow)
- the benefits of using hydrogen peroxide as a propellant
- the role of 3D printing in modern rocket engines
- and the future of Skyrora.
Selected Links from the Episode
- Skyrora: Webpage and Twitter feed
- Skyrora and 3D printing
- Hydrogen peroxide as propellant:
- Plans to launch from Northern Scotland
- The British are coming…for the rocket-launching industry
- The Black Arrow rocket: (1, 2) and cross-section drawing
June 21, 2018
Podcast Ep. #12 – The Perlan Project: Soaring to the Edge of Space
This episode features an in-depth look at the Perlan Project. The mission of the Perlan Project is to fly an engineless aircraft to the edge of space, in this case, by taking advantage of an aerodynamic phenomenon known as wave lift. Not only is soaring to 90,000 feet an audacious goal, but on top of that, the Perlan Project is a worldwide collaborative project run entirely by aviation enthusiasts, scientists, engineers and adventurous pilots. No one has ever soared to the edge of space in a glider and so the Perlan engineers are venturing into unchartered aviation territory on their own. On this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast I speak to Project Manager Morgan Sandercock and Flight Test Engineer Alan Lawless about:
- the genesis and history of the Perlan Project
- how one goes about designing, manufacturing and testing a glider that is to fly to the edge of space
- past success stories
- and the team’s future plans for breaking aviation records.
In case you personally want to support the Perlan Project as a donor, you can do so on the Perlan Project donor page.

Selected Links from the Episode
June 5, 2018
Podcast Ep. #11 – Dr Priyanka Dhopade on Jet Engine Optimisation and Women in Engineering
Priyanka Dhopade received her PhD from the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia and was the recipient of the Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship award, awarded annually to the 35 most outstanding female aerospace PhD students worldwide. Since 2013 she has been researching the thermodynamics of jet engines in the Thermofluids Institute at Oxford University. Priyanka is an expert in computational fluid dynamics modelling of heat transfer, aerodynamics and aero-elasticity in jet engines. She is currently leading the modelling campaigns for various projects in collaboration with industry partners relating to turbine and compressor tip clearance control, turbine internal cooling and active flow control. In this episode, Priyanka and I talk about:
- the challenges of improving the efficiency of current gas turbines
- the intricacies of fluid dynamics modelling
- and a topic particularly close to her heart, the diversity challenge in STEM fields.
Selected Links from the Episode
- Priyanka’s research profile at Oxford University
- Oxford Thermfluids Institute
- Turbine Cooling and Design
- Active tip-clearance control (Wiki and NASA)
- What is CFD?
- Women in Engineering at Oxford
- Priyanka on the BBC
- This is Engineering
May 22, 2018
Podcast Ep. #10 – Kitty Hawk Roboticist Dr Mark Cutler on UAVs, Machine Learning and Personalised Flying
Dr Mark Cutler has a PhD in Robotics and Autonomous Systems from MIT. He has researched multiple aspects of UAV technology—from designing and building his own novel quadrotor for aerobatic flight to developing machine learning algorithms for autonomous systems. Mark is currently working for the California-based startup Kitty Hawk backed by Google founder Larry Page.

At Kitty Hawk, Mark is applying his expertise in rotorcraft to create the next generation of vehicles for everyday flight. Kitty Hawk are currently designing, testing and building all-electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles for work and play. Their first product, the Cora, is an air taxi that could one day bring us an UBER-like service for the sky, and Kitty Hawk is currently in the first stages of testing the Cora in New Zealand. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast, Mark and I talk about:
- his diverse background in UAV’s
- the explosion of hobbyist rotorcraft
- the promises of machine learning for autonomous flight
- and the future of personalised flying
Selected Links from the Episode
- Contact Mark through his website
- Mark’s quadcopter on Gizmodo
- Kitty Hawk and career opportunities
- A video of Kitty Hawk’s Cora
- A Tech Insider video on Kitty Hawk’s Flyer
- The New York Times on Kitty Hawk’s flying cars
- A vision for flying taxis
May 8, 2018
Podcast Ep. #9 – Faradair Founder Neil Cloughley on the Bio-Electric Hybrid Aircraft and Regional Aviation
Neil Cloughley is the founder and managing director of Faradair, the UK’s leading hybrid aviation programme. Neil has a broad background in the aviation industry ranging from aircraft re-marketing and aircraft leasing to starting his own aircraft consultancy business, which found him working with the world’s major airlines, OEMs and trailblazing companies like Virgin Galactic. Neil’s father developed one of the most advanced unmanned aerial vehicles of the early 1990s, and had a flying prototype before the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator entered service in 1995. Unfortunately, as a result of being slightly ahead of its time, and due to a lack of funds and unfortunate timing, ASVEC UK had to close its doors.

Neil is now stepping into his father’s footsteps and building the bio-electric hybrid aircraft (BEHA) drawing from many of the lessons he learned from his father. The BEHA is a six-passenger aircraft with a hybrid gas and electric propulsion system, and is to be used for regional travel of around 200 miles. The BEHA has an unconventional design with a triple-staggered wing, an all-composite airframe and a ducted propeller. These design decisions reflect the three key specifications that need to be met to make regional inter-city flight a reality: minimising noise, emissions and operational costs. In this conversation, Neil and I talk about
- the engineering behind BEHA
- the challenging economics of new aviation businesses
- his long-term vision for a regional Uber-like taxi service in the sky
- and much, much more
Selected Links from the Episode
- Faradair and the BEHA
- Neil’s vision of an UBER in the sky
- The Journey of an Aerospace Startup — Royal Aeronautical Society lecture
- Profile of Neil Cloughley
- Faradair partnership with Swansea University
- ProDrive’s partnership with Faradair
April 25, 2018
Podcast Ep. #8 – Rocket Lab’s Lachlan Matchett on Democratising Access to Space and the Rutherford Rocket Engine
In this episode I am talking to Lachlan Matchett, who is the VP of Propulsion at Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab is a startup rocket company with the mission of removing barriers to commercial space by frequent launches to low-earth orbit. The current conundrum of many space technology companies that want to launch small satellites into space is that there is no dedicated launch service tailored to their needs. This is where Rocket Lab enters the picture. To provide small payloads with a flexible and dedicated launch vehicle, Rocket Lab has developed the Electron rocket. The Electron is a two-stage rocket that can be tailored to unique orbital requirements and provides frequent flight opportunities at personalised schedules.

In terms of the engineering, there are many interesting features to the Electron rocket, but one of the key innovations is the Rutherford engine that Lachlan Matchett and his team have developed over the last five years. Rutherford is the first oxygen/kerosene-powered engine to use 3D printing for all primary components. In fact, the Rutherford engine can be printed in an astounding 24 hrs, and this is one of the driving factors behind Rocket Lab’s cost efficiency and high target launch frequency. So in this episode, Lachlan and I talk about:
- Rocket Lab’s business model
- their recent launch success in Jan 2018
- some of the engineering highlights of the Rutherford engine
- and Rocket Lab’s plans for the future
Selected Links from the Episode
- Rocket Lab
- Follow the Humanity Star
- Lachlan Matchett wins Young Engineer of the Year
- Jan 2018 launch “Still Testing” (launch video countdown at 14:50)
- Rocket Lab’s upcoming launch “It’s Business Time”
April 6, 2018
Podcast Ep. #7 – Dr Valeska Ting on Smart Nanomaterials for Hydrogen Storage
Today’s episode features Dr Valeska Ting who is a Reader in Smart Nanomaterials at the University of Bristol and is researching the use of nanoporous materials for hydrogen storage. Using hydrogen as a fuel source has many benefits. Due to its excellent energy density, hydrogen has long been hailed as an alternative to fossil fuels but it’s also an excellent means of storing renewable energy from solar or wind sources. One of the challenges of storing hydrogen is its low density, meaning that large volumes are required to store efficient amounts of hydrogen to be able to use it as a fuel. This is precisely where Valeska’s research enters the picture. The nanoporous materials that she is working on can increase the density of hydrogen by a factor of a 1000, and therefore provide a key stepping stone towards more efficient hydrogen-powered vehicles. In this episode, Valeska and I talk about multiple aspects of this technology including:
- what nanoporous materials are and how they work
- how they can be used to create multifunctional materials
- what scientific challenges she is addressing to scale-up and improve their performance, and
- how they could be applied to design lighter hydrogen tanks for cars, aircraft or even rockets
Selected Links from the Episode
- Valeska’s research:
- What is a nanoporous material?
- Outlook and challenges for nanoporous materials
March 20, 2018
Podcast Ep. #6 – Oxford Space Systems Founder Mike Lawton on Deployable Space Structures
On this episode of the podcast I speak to Mike Lawton, who is the founder and CEO of Oxford Space Systems (OSS). OSS is an award-winning space technology company that is developing a new generation of deployable space structures that are lighter, simpler and cheaper than current products on the market. These deployable structures deploy antennas and solar panels on satellites orbiting earth, and are tricky to design because they need to package to a fraction of their deployed size, and need to be as lightweight as possible. OSS’ first product, the AstroTube boom, was launched into space and deployed on a cubesat in September 2016. This achievement set a new industry record in terms of development time, going from company formation to orbit in under 30 months. I met Mike at the OSS design office to talk about:
- venture capital funding of NewSpace companies
- how the design philosophy of NewSpace companies differs from established firms
- how origami, the Japanese art of folding, is being used to design more efficient deployable structures
- the flexible composites technology that OSS are developing
- and his vision for the future of space commercialisation
Selected Links from the Episode
- Oxford Space Systems:
  - Technology overview
  - AstroTube
  - AstroHinge
  - Origami and unpacking in space (Part 1, Part 2)
  - First product launch
- Harwell Space Cluster
- Catapult Satellite Applications
- NewSpace
- UK Space Agency Funding
- Prof. Zhong You, Oxford University
- Asteroid mining
March 5, 2018
Podcast Ep. #5 – Concorde Chief Engineer John Britton on Supersonic Flight
In this episode I am talking to John Britton. John was the chief engineer of Concorde on the British side of the enterprise from 1994 until Concorde’s demise in 2003. John possesses a wealth of knowledge regarding the engineering behind Concorde, and its heritage in Bristol, UK. Because he was the chief engineer at its demise, he also has a unique insight into why the aircraft is no longer flying today. In this conversation, John and I talk about:
- how he ended up as the Chief Engineer of Concorde
- what engineering feats made Concorde special
- why Concorde is no longer flying today
- and what he thinks new supersonic companies need to focus on
This interview was recorded at Aerospace Bristol, which is a new aerospace museum located at Filton Airfield in the South West of the United Kingdom. From the beginnings of powered flight, Filton Airfield was the birthplace of many a flying machine – from aeroplanes and helicopters to missiles and satellites. Aerospace Bristol represents the new heart to the area’s aerospace heritage.

Selected Links from the Episode
- Aerospace Bristol museum
- Heritage of Filton Airfield
- Sir George White
- The Bristol Aeroplane Company
- British Aircraft Corporation
- Concorde:
  - Timeline
  - The Concorde Story documentary
  - Powerplant, fuel system, wing and skin temperatures
  - The demise of Concorde: video and article and another article
- The Concorde rival: Tu-144
  - Overview
  - The Paris Crash (ironic that Concorde too would crash in Paris 30 years later)
- Return of supersonic commercial flights with:
  - Boom Supersonic (video)
  - Spike Aerospace (video)
February 11, 2018
Podcast Ep. #4 – Kim-Tobias Kohn on Electric Aviation
“We need to get going into the future in terms of clean aviation” — Kim-Tobias Kohn

On this episode of the podcast I speak to Kim-Tobias Kohn who is a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of the West of England. Beside his main vocation, Kim is also an avid pilot and runs an electric skateboard startup company. Kim has garnered attention in the media and from aerospace societies in the UK for his unique university project of building an electric glider with his undergraduate students. For obvious reasons, building an electric passenger aircraft that can replace current fuel-powered airliners is significantly more challenging than replacing gasoline cars with electric vehicles. However, there is a growing grass-roots initiative developing in the UK that is attempting to solve some of the regulatory and technical challenges to realise this vision of electric aviation.

So in this episode Kim and I talk about:
- the unique regulatory framework for experimental aircraft in the UK known as the E-conditions
- the major technical hurdles that need to be overcome to make electric aviation a reality
- how the UAV/drone sector is opening doors for larger-scale electric aviation
- his university project of building an electric glider
- his dreams for a student-led design, build and fly competition for electric aircraft
- and much, much more
Selected Links from the Episode
- Kim’s electric glider project and his YouTube Vlog
- Kim’s company emotion engineering (UAV’s, electric skateboards and aerial photography)
- More info from the University of the West of England about the undergraduate electric glider project
- Royal Aeronautical Society on electric flight
- The UK E-conditions
- Airbus, Rolls Royce and Siemens E-fan hybrid electric aircraft
- EasyJet on electric aircraft
- Wired on electric aircraft
- Electric flight potential and limitations
- Formula Student and Formula SAE
- SolarFlight solar-powered planes
- Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems
February 5, 2018