Model Rocketry Trek: The Next Generation

Just finished building the Argo D4 Javelin from North Coast Rocketry, and it is inspiring our next generation of rocketeers. My daughter sings a charming variant of the Disney Frozen song: “Do you want to build a rocket? Do you want to launch it high?”

Over four years of design work went into the development of the kit, which makes extensive use of commercial grade sterolithographic 3D-printed parts. The 12 fins, 3 fin cans, 3 interstages, and nose cone are all 3D printed. This adds a lot of detail, and the precision of the print makes fin attachment and alignment a simple epoxy step (nearly automating the most time-consuming part of most rocketry builds).

The real Argo D-4 Javelin had four stages and could lift a payload of around 125 pounds (57 kg) to an apogee of 1100 kilometers. There were a total of 82 launched between 1959 and 1976. The vehicle consisted of an Honest John first stage (white) plus two Nike upper stages (orange and yellow) plus a X-248 fourth stage (white). It was developed by the Air Force to replace its Jason rocket with the mission of measuring radiation in space after high-altitude nuclear explosions. It was subsequently used by NASA for a variety of high-altitude near-space scientific experiments.