Jalapeño Rocket Motor

Purdue Orbital

Aug 2024 - Present

The Jalapeño motor is a solid rocket motor developed by Purdue Orbital’s Propulsion team, intended for use on the Theseus rocket. The development of Jalapeño began with 4 igniter test trials at Purdue’s Zucrow Labs, leading up to a motor hot fire in Spring 2025.

The Jalapeño motor utilized an ignition system consisting of Pyrodex pellets mounted to a phenolic disk, as shown on the right. A series of igniter test trials was conducted to collect chamber pressure data and evaluate ignition performance. These results were used to determine whether a 3-pellet or 4-pellet design would be the optimal igniter configuration for the final hot-fire test.

Igniter Pellet Configuration

Test Stand

Throughout the development of Jalapeño, a major challenge was the team’s ability to safely and repeatably test the Pyrodex pellets mounted on the motor’s phenolic disk prior to the hot-fire test. Inspired by car iPhone holders, Mariana developed the test stand design used for the trials.

Mariana’s sketches for the test stand design.

Hot Fire Test

After the successful test trials, Jalapeño was ready for a hot fire trial, during which all major components of the motor were operated and evaluated.