The exact origin of Sun Devil Rocketry is unclear, but current student leadership thinks it was established 20 years ago.
In 2025, the team completed the first-ever successful test of a liquid rocket engine at ASU, one they developed independently from all previous student efforts.
"In April, we first hot-fired a liquid rocket, and the joy of everyone in the bunker, all cheering because it finally worked after three years, is one of my favorite memories," said Aron Magnus, the vice president of SDR and a senior studying aerospace engineering.
After completing the effective test, SDR is in the midst of a multi-year project to build an entire liquid rocket. As of now, the team is designing a new engine, test stand and fluid system.
"I want to work on stuff that pushes the boundaries of what we can do out in space," Magnus said. "Bringing the unknown closer to home."
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SDR is a student-led organization dedicated to rocketry innovation and education. Bria Erimli, the president of SDR and a senior studying aerospace engineering, said the club's goal is to support students interested in the field, no matter their starting knowledge base.
"The club's goal is just to make sure that people learn as much as they can," Erimli said. "They can get whatever they want out of the club. We're all there to support everyone's learning in the skills."
The liquid rocket propulsion project began in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic hindered its progress by limiting in-person collaboration.
Thomas Booska, a team lead and a junior studying mechanical engineering, said the organization started with little experience working with liquid rockets. However, he said in just a few years, SDR was able to build a test stand, design a liquid rocket engine and create custom electronics for the control system.
Liquid rockets contain both a liquid oxidizer, typically oxygen at an extremely cool temperature, and a liquid fuel in separate tanks, he said. The two liquids are kept apart in the rocket to prevent them from igniting each other.
This design allows the team to control various factors, including the flow of propellants, as well as the acceleration and restart of the launch, making it a rocket with a much higher degree of control.
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At the end of 2023 and in 2024, SDR conducted trial runs for the engine, both of which resulted in engine failure and a large fireball. Beginning in 2024, the club decided to completely restart the project, intentionally avoiding old calculations to have full ownership and a complete understanding of the new design.
"Pretty much everything was as scratch as we could make it to make sure that we knew exactly what we were doing," Booska said. "We weren't wanting to rely on the past knowledge of undergrads that may or may not have been correct."
On April 3, 2025, SDR completed a successful two-second hot fire test of the new liquid engine, the first-ever successful liquid rocket engine firing at ASU, according to ASU's Student Hub website. The event demonstrated that the feat was attainable, laying the groundwork for future builds.
"Building a liquid rocket on a college student budget and a college student limit on personnel and time – even going out, launching, recovering it – is something that only a handful of schools have done," Booska said. "It's just a very new and very fresh challenge for a lot of people that are quite excited for it."
Edited by Kate Gore, Senna James and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporters at dforres5@asu.edu.
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Dylan Forrest is a freshman at ASU majoring in neuroscience. She is a Science and Technology reporter for The State Press and is her first semester with the publication.
