Montgomery Student Achieves Groundbreaking Rocket Landing

By Madison Go | Posted July 31, 2024

For 17-year-old Aryan Kapoor, the sky is not the limit. It’s only the beginning. After three years of trial and error, the Montgomery High School student successfully landed a propulsive model rocket, placing him among a select group of individuals worldwide.

ARYAN KAPOOR of Skillman after landing a vertical rocket at Montgomery Veterans Park.

The accomplishment landed him an article in Popular Science magazine in July. “It took SpaceX years to successfully pull off the first vertical landing for its reusable Falcon 9 rocket. Since then, model rocket designers have attempted to recreate the feat—with Joe Barnard’s BPS.space accomplishing the milestone in 2022 after seven years of work.

The latest model to achieve a vertical landing, however, comes from a high schooler,” according the magazine article. Kapoor will be a senior at MHS in September. His interest in rocketry began with simple curiosity sparked by a SpaceX rocket landing video. Despite having zero prior knowledge, he immersed himself in YouTube tutorials and online forums. “I knew absolutely nothing beforehand,” he confesses.

His dedication was met with difficulties, especially in achieving precise altitude calculations.

“In order for the altitude calculations to work, they need to be extremely precise to have reliable landings,” Kapoor said. “That was really challenging.”

Aryan’s mother, Manjari Kapoor, fondly recalls his early passion for building. “His journey started with LEGO… he spent more than 10,000 hours on it,” she said. She is a vice principal in the Newark Public School District.

MHS STUDENT Aryan Kapoor’s mother — Manjari Kapoor — watches with anticipation as her son attempts to land a propulsive model rocket.

His parents recount numerous trips to hardware stores and an unending supply of rocket parts as birthday and Diwali gifts throughout his project span.

“He would be very upset when something went wrong. But he would rebuild it the very same day. He doesn’t really move forward unless he truly knows everything,” Manjari said, emphasizing that his goal was less about him landing the rocket, and more about him learning about the processes of engineering, design, and programming.

His father — Information Technology Leader Shyam Kapoor — added that he introduced electronic circuitry to his son, thinking it was just a toy. “But he took it from there and now it’s something more,” he said.

Model rocket propulsion typically involves a solid-fuel engine that generates force, with fins for stabilization and parachutes for landings. However, Aryan’s rocket diverged from the norm with an active control system and guidance computer. Instead of fins, Aryan’s rocket used thrust vectoring to adjust the rocket motor’s angle mid-flight. When it was time to land, a secondary rocket engine took over.

“The flight computer decides when it’s time to start ignition of the retromotor, and then it can basically land itself,” Aryan said.

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Aryan’s accomplishment extends beyond the physical realm of rocketry. He fostered an online community with his YouTube channel and website, where he documented his process and shared the video of his successful landing. This video caught the attention of writers online. Publications such as Popular Science, Hackster, The Verge, and Hackaday were enthusiastic about Kapoor's triumph.

Reflecting on his journey, Aryan acknowledges difficulties he faced. “The first year was complete failure. I got zero rockets to work,” he said.

His persistence paid off, not only in his attained landing but also in the experience gained along the way.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “It opens a lot more doors because now I have more experience and can do more advanced stuff.”

Looking ahead to his future in aerospace, Aryan said, “I want other people to think big and be ambitious." Kapoor’s venture into rocketry is just beginning, and promises a thrilling ride to the stars and beyond.