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Forest Wyvern

Forest Wyvern rocket render

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Apogee

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/ OverviewMission Profile

Inside Forest Wyvern

Forest Wyvern flew at the 2025 NASA Student Launch in Huntsville, Alabama, and turned in DRACO's most accurate flight to date — a measured 4,717 ft against a 4,725 ft prediction, just 8 feet apart. The vehicle used an advanced three-separation recovery architecture with a dedicated payload parachute, and carried a crew-simulation 'STEMnaut' payload that recorded onboard flight data through descent and landing. It was the first year DRACO's payload flew with the vehicle at competition.

/ Mission Sequence

Concept of Operations

Concept of Operations — ascent, three-separation recovery, and STEMnaut payload deployment.

Concept of Operations diagram for Forest Wyvern

Forest Wyvern

Vehicle Overview

Internal components of Forest Wyvern
01 Nose Cone
02 STEMnaut Payload + Payload Parachute
03 GPS Tracker
04 Avionics Bay
05 Main Parachute
06 Drogue Parachute (Aft)
07 Fins + Motor Mount

Select a marker to explore each subsystem inside Forest Wyvern.

Apogee
4,717 ft
Weight
47.8 lb (wet)
Length
10.5 ft
Diameter
6.15 in
Motor
AeroTech L1940X
Airframe
Fiberglass + lighter composite airframe trials (BlueTube)

/ Engineering Highlights

Key subsystems

Transparent CAD cutaway of Forest Wyvern's nose section, showing the STEMnaut payload's electronics board, battery, and bulkheads inside the airframe.
Subsystem 01

STEMnaut Payload

Crew-simulation payload — a transparent section view of the nose showing the integrated avionics board, batteries, and chassis that recorded flight conditions and landing-site temperature.

Forest Wyvern's three recovery sections descending separately under the drogue, main, and payload parachutes against a clear sky.
Subsystem 02

Three-Stage Recovery

Forest Wyvern was DRACO's first vehicle to use three separation events — drogue, main, and a dedicated payload parachute — giving each section its own controlled descent.

  • 28 in drogue at apogee
  • 96 in main parachute
  • 48 in dedicated payload parachute
The motor mount tube with white 3D-printed ABS center rings, shown bare and with the fins installed.
Subsystem 03

3D-Printed Motor Mount

Forest Wyvern's motor mount was the first at DRACO built with 3D-printed center rings — all printed in ABS. Its success gave the team confidence to take 3D-printed plastic more seriously for structural components across the vehicle, not just brackets and covers.

  • First DRACO motor mount with 3D-printed center rings
  • Printed entirely in ABS
  • Opened the door to more structural 3D-printed parts on later vehicles
/ GalleryMission Photos

Forest Wyvern in Alabama

Launch footage, manufacturing, integration, and the team behind the mission.

Launch footage

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