OBJ‑01
Build everything ourselves
Every part is designed, machined, and assembled by undergraduates: injectors, PCBs, airframes, and the stands that fire them.
Propulsion · Aeronautics · Rocket Systems Engineering
Building a rocket that lands itself.
PARSEC is Caltech’s rocketry group. Our goals: fly Icarus — a liquid‑oxygen / kerosene rocket designed to take off, hover, and set itself back down with its engine — in the Collegiate Propulsive Lander Challenge, and publish the research it takes to get there.
Program objectives
Build. Fire.
Fly. Publish.
The Collegiate Propulsive Lander Challenge asks student teams to attempt something only a handful of organizations have ever done: fly a liquid-propellant rocket and bring it back down on its own engine.
OBJ‑02
Fire deep‑throttling engines
A rocket that lands must fight its own thrust. Our LOX/kerosene engines will hold stable combustion far below full power, to be proven in frequent, long‑duration hotfires on Monolith.
OBJ‑03
Fly the software first
Landing means closing the loop between sensors, flight computer, and actuators hundreds of times per second. Our Daedalus drones rack up propulsive touchdowns before Icarus ever lights.
OBJ‑04
Publish what we prove
Results leave the lab. What our testbeds demonstrate in flight becomes published research that advances self‑landing rocketry in the aerospace community.
Command
Executive Committee
Aiden Di Carlo
Co‑President
ME + Robotics ’27
Reid Nussbaum
Co‑President
ME + Aero ’27
Graduate advisors
Jose Leonardo Brenes
Graduate Advisor
Autonomous Robotics and Control Lab
Jack Caldwell
Graduate Advisor
Gharib Research Group
George Popov
Graduate Advisor
Space Structures Lab
Team leads
Alumni
- Enzo CelisRUDy Injector REUCLAMaster’s Student
- Isabella PaganoPresident·GSE LeadImpulse SpaceTest Engineer
- Jacob WolmerChief Engineer·Propulsion LeadSpaceXPropulsion Engineer
- Cristian PonceBusiness LeadTetsuwan ScientificCo‑founder / CEO
- Makoa InciongPropulsion LeadMillennium Space SystemsSpacecraft Thermal Engineer
- Max ObergPresident·Propulsion LeadAstraMechanical Engineer
- Sarah BassStructures LeadU. SouthamptonMaster’s Student
- Adam KrivkaSoftware LeadAISLETechnical Staff
- Kyle LethanderSpaceXPropulsion Engineer
- Rithvik MusukuCanopy Aerospace & DefenseAerothermal Engineer
- Calle JunkerVice PresidentPurdue ZucrowPhD Student
- Evan DickerStructures LeadU. Washington A&APhD Student
- Robert DaiglePresident·Propulsion LeadPurdue AAEPhD Student
- Julian SandersAvionics LeadReflect OrbitalSenior Electrical Engineer
- Kristine ChelakkatMicrosoftMechanical Engineer
- Maheck Jerez TercerosPresident·Propulsion LeadRelativity SpacePropulsion Engineer
- Michael BrownSpaceXStructures Engineer
- Alexandra StuttCarnegie MellonPhD Student
- Benjamin CasseseAeronautics LeadHarvard–Smithsonian CfAAstronomer
- Brendan HollawaySoftware LeadBoston DynamicsStaff Perception Engineer
- Lewis JonesCo‑founderCosmic RoboticsCo‑founder / CTO
- Megan DurneyBusiness LeadHarvard QSEPhD Student
- Ray SunUSCPhD Student
- Richard HamelInjector LeadUrsa MajorSenior Propulsion Engineer
- David WuAvionics LeadZadar LabsHead of Hardware
- Tyler MiddletonAvionics LeadZadar LabsFPGA Lead
