If you don’t know anything about the Yellow Jacket Space Program (YJSP), you likely will soon. The 200+ student rocketry team at Georgia Tech is working diligently to be the very first collegiate team to launch a liquid-fueled rocket to the edge of space — 100 km above the earth.

Since the program’s initiation in 2015 and its very first launch back in 2019, one can only imagine the level of effort and ingenuity that goes into designing and constructing these rockets from scratch. Not to mention, the amount of engine testing and trial launches that need to happen to achieve such a lofty goal of flying a liquid-propellant rocket to the end of Earth’s atmosphere.

In the last four years, the club has completed eight engine tests, before reaching a new program record of 10 engines fired in a single semester this past spring. But with the team's new engine test system, the Helluva Engine Test Stand (HETS), they’ll be able to achieve a cadence of four engine tests per week.

In order to keep firing, they need to keep fueling. While previously relying on Jet-A to propel their rockets, their goal to move to RP-1 propellant is driven by its better density controls and reduced coking potential in their regeneratively cooled engines.

This is something Monument certainly knows a lot about! As a decades-long producer of RP-1, there are few companies in the industry with the same streams or access to this tech — which is why providing the crucial RP-1 needed to fuel their development of liquid-propellant rocket systems for another six months was an easy choice for us. And as we continue to move toward more sustainable and cleaner propellant options, we’ll have a nice reserve available to support the program’s future testing for years to come.

“Monument is passionate about donating RP-1 to university rocketry programs because these students are the future of space,” Ed Hennessy, National Accounts Manager, Monument Renewables and Fuels, explained. “And the work that the YJSP is doing is something that can become a very fulfilling career. Having the opportunity to be a part of that is an honor for us. So many of our employees are really excited about this association because they know the incredible opportunities this program provides for future engineers and the impact that the work they’re doing now can eventually have for all of us.”

YJSP is one of the largest student-run engineering projects in the country, and it only takes one conversation with their team to know that they’re also one of the most passionate and ambitious. In 2023, they achieved two successful launches with their GoldiLOX rocket, reaching a 5,000 foot apogee and Darcy II, a larger iteration of a previous rocket, launching to a 30,000 foot apogee before being recovered.

But to the YJSP, these are simply stepping stones toward their ultimate goal — and they’re not settling for anything less than the highest standards in every aspect of their rocket’s performance. And a high-performance propellant like RP-1 that Monument is able to provide helps them achieve that. As they push toward more ambitious milestones, they look to hit 90% efficiency with their combustion, an impressive feat for these engines.

“A donation like this from Monument helps provide valuable learning experiences to over 200 students across the program,” Braden Anderson, YJSP | Vespula Chief Engineer, shared. “Every single RE in this program goes on to something in the field, and I personally would not be as successful as an engineer at this point in my career without this program. All of our progress depends on testing, and this RP-1 donation supplies over 6 months of necessary hotfires. Propellant used to be one of the cheapest fuels to get, but costs have risen and our budgets have reduced, so without donations like this, none of what we’re doing is possible. And the more we can test, the more people we can get involved and teach, which means the opportunity to make a greater impact with our work.”