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The goal of the SS2S
Program
The underlying goal of the Sugar
Shot to Space program is to loft a rocket powered
by "sugar propellant" into space. Officially
defined as 100 km (62 miles) above the earth's surface.
Inspiration for this project arose from a dialogue and
enduring exchange of ideas on the SugPro e-mail
amateur rocketry forum. 
Amateur propellant
The fundamental challenge of the Sugar Shot to Space program
is to achieve the goal utilizing an honest-to-goodness
amateur propellant. "Sugar propellant" is undoubtedly
the most popular propellant used by amateur rocketry experimentalists
worldwide due to its inherent simplicity and safety. Consisting
of a cast binary mixture of chemical oxidizer and sugar,
this propellant burns and behaves in a very similar manner
to its professional counterpart. The key differences are
lower performance and simplified manufacture. For more
information on "sugar propellants" visit nakka-rocketry.net.
Important goals
Besides the extraordinary goal of sending a rocket into
space, there are other equally important and more fundamental
goals. This project is intended to be universal in scope
with regard to involvement, and as such, participants
from around the world are invited to join in this quest.
It is hoped that the Amateur Experimental Rocketry community,
which over the past decade has grown in size and in collaboration
thanks to the internet, will bond even more closely --
to share our ideas, experiences, successes and failures.
Other goals include expanded development of "sugar
propellant" technology, leading to greater knowledge
and enhanced safety of sugar propellant rocketry. And
no one can argue that success of this project would provide
incontestable legitimization of the remarkable "sugar
propellant". Last, but not least, it is hoped that
attention spurred by this project will promote an interest
in science & technology and begin paving the way for
future "rocket engineers" to take us further.
The Projects
The SS2S program will reveal itself via a series of motor
development projects and three primary rocket vehicle
projects with the last being the vehicle by which SS2S
reaches space. The proposed primary vehicles and motors
are illustrated below with an appropriate scale. Projects
are detailed in the links below:
Motor Development:
SS-TEM
BEM
LW-BEM
Vehicle Development:
MiniSShot
DoubleSShot
eXSShot
Other test projects:
ProtoSShot
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