Mykyta Holubetskyi | Aerospace Engineering

IREC 2026

Jun 2025 – Jun 2026 · 4th place, SRAD hybrid motor category

My third year at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), the largest rocketry competition in the world, with SEDS RD at ASU. Our team moved up to the harder category of student researched and developed (SRAD) hybrid motor rockets and won 4th place.

Our rocket flew on the custom M527 hybrid motor that I developed with Michael Bravo, SEDS RD President. Before the competition, we built Cactus Cooler: a 12 ft single-stage fiberglass rocket designed to fly to 7,000 ft at Mach 1.5, as a testbed for the motor performance and our custom avionics.

Tools: Hybrid propulsion, fiberglass composites, custom avionics, Fusion 360, OpenRocket, RASAero

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IREC 2025

Jun 2024 – Jun 2025 · 7th place, COTS solid motor category

My second IREC with SEDS RD at ASU. Our team competed in the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solid motor category and won 7th place in the category, and 12th place overall out of more than 170 teams from around the world.

As the team grew, I worked as part of a large team with many specialized subteams. My roles across IREC included Propulsion Co-Lead, Lead Machinist, composite manufacturing, and CAD and simulation.

Tools: Fusion 360, OpenRocket, RASAero, Ansys, composites, CNC, lathe

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Spaceport 2024

Sep 2023 – Jun 2024 · Sportsmanship Award

My first IREC, at the Spaceport America Cup, with SEDS RD at ASU. The club restarted in 2024, and I was part of it from the beginning. On a small team, I worked personally on every part of our rocket, Project Wumbo. Our team won the Sportsmanship Award.

In the same year, I earned my NAR Level 1 and Level 2 high-power rocketry certifications. I designed, simulated, launched, and recovered two personal rockets: one significantly modified kit and one built from scratch.

Tools: OpenRocket, RASAero, Ansys, Fusion 360

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SEDS RD at ASU Machining Lead

Oct 2023 – Present

As Lead Machinist for the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Rocketry Division (SEDS RD) at ASU, I manufacture parts for our competition rockets and motor test hardware.

I grew from a member of a small team working on every part of the rocket to leading others on complex collaborative projects.

Tools: CNC, lathe, TIG welding, MIG welding, soldering, composites, Fusion 360

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Hybrids Research Capstone

Sep 2025 – Jun 2026 · Custom Hybrid Motor M527

With Michael Bravo, SEDS RD President, I developed a custom liquid nitrous oxide hybrid rocket motor for IREC 2026. The motor uses a 3D printed fuel grain with complex geometry and reached 600.51 lbf peak thrust.

To test the motor, we developed a static fire test stand with a load cell and a fueling setup, and conducted 8 hot fires. I diagnosed and fixed defective valves, leaking piping, cryogenic temperature management, and suboptimal ignition.

Tools: Hybrid propulsion, liquid nitrous oxide, 3D printed fuel grain, load cell data acquisition, static fire test stand, cryogenic fueling

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Projects

IREC 2026

IREC 2025

Spaceport 2024

SEDS RD at ASU Machining Lead

Hybrids Research Capstone