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Flight Simulator Programs| ALT4 |  |
MS-DOS simulation |
| CompuRoc | |
Macintosh simulation |
| OpenRocket | |
Cross-platform (Java) simulation |
| RASAero | |
Windows simulation |
| RocFlight | |
Windows simulation |
| RockSim | |
Windows & Mac design and simulation |
| SpaceCAD | |
Windows design and simulation |
| Virtual Range | |
Macintosh simulation |
| WinRoc | |
Windows design and simulation |
| wRASP | |
Windows simulation |
There is also a simple rocket flight simulator available right on this site as part of the motor guide. (You don't need to download any software so it works on all platforms.)
These programs are not flight simulators per-se, but are related to hobby rocket motor analysis and simulation and you may find them useful.
AeroDRAG Windows rocket drag analysis Engine Editor RockSim (RSE) engile file editor Thrust Curve Tool Analyze test data and produce ENG files SMARTSim Optimization and batch processing for RockSim
If you use a program not represented here, please let us know and we'll add its info and try to help you find data for it.
ALT4
Rogers Aeroscience ALT4 provides advanced flight modelling,
including supersonic flight.
This program is not shareware, but you can purchase it from
Rogers Aeroscience Software
(e-mail).
You can also write to them at P.O. Box 10065, Lancaster CA 93584.
ALT4 uses motor data in indivual text files with the .EDX extension. ThrustCurve.org provides data in exactly this format. You can download data files from this site, save them into your ROGERS directory, and use them without any more effort.
CompuRoc
CompuRoc is a shareware model rocketry simulator,
including altitude prediction, ejection delay calculation, graphing capabilities,
flight summaries, as well as a set of nice thrust curves for common real-world
motors and complete documentation.
(CompuRoc is the only simulator available for the Macintosh.)
This program is shareware and you can find out more
in this article.
CompuRoc uses binary motor files in a proprietary format. You can import thrust curve data from here, but you will still need to enter the motor attributes by hand once when you import.
Contributed by Dale Emery.
OpenRocket
OpenRocket is a Free, fully featured model rocket simulator written in Java.
It can be used to design and simulate rockets before actually building and flying them.
OpenRocket features a full six-degree-of-freedom simulation, realistic wind modeling,
a multitude of different components including free-form fins and canted fins,
clustering and staging. OpenRocket is Open Source–its source code is freely available to
study and extend.
See the OpenRocket site
for more information and to download.
RASAero
RASAero is a combined aerodynamic analysis flight simulation software package.
RASAero can also be used for predicting aerodynamic coefficients for use in other
flight simulation programs for orbital rockets.
This program is freeware and you can find out more
www.rasaero.com.
RASAero uses motor files in the very common RASP format and you can add the files from this site directly to its database.
RocFlight
RocFlight is a Windows based, planar rocket trajectory software for launch vehicles
traveling through the standard earth atmospheric model.
Includes a database of common high power/model rocket motors,
an optimal mass calculator, custom graphing capabilities,
and a database management tool for creating and modifying custom motor files,
vehicle files, aerodynamic data files and simulation case files.
It handles simple model rockets as well as sophisticated sounding rockets.
See the RocFlight web site.
RockSim
RockSim is a full featured rocket design and simulation program from Apogee
Components. It allows a modeler to design their rocket, and then perform a
detailed and accurate simulation that predicts how well it will
fly. RockSim is different from other simulators in that it calculates the
changing weight of the rocket as the motor burns off propellant. This not
only affects the altitude, but the stability and trajectory of the rocket
as well. RockSim is the first and only inexpensive rocketry program that
predicts the dynamic stability of the rocket, which is how it reacts to
wind disturbances. This is displayed as a movie-like animation of the
rocket's trajectory; so even non-scientists can easily see how the vehicle
will perform.
The software will also aid the modeler in building their rocket, as it allows printing of templates, pattern sheets, as well as 3D pictures of the model.
RockSim accepts RASP.eng files, but for greater simulation accuracy, and ease in selecting from the over 360+ certified rocket engines, users of RockSim v8 and newer should select the "RockSim Engine format" (.rse). This newer engine format saves additional information about the rocket engine. This includes the type of motor (single-use, reloadable, hybrid), and the CG curve of the motor as it burns off propellant. This becomes important in hybrid motors in particular; as the CG moves rearward as they burn, making the rocket less stable.
RockSim comes in two versions: Windows (requires Win98 or newer) and Macintosh OS X (v10.3 or newer). The design and motor data files are cross-platform compatible. You can download a trial version or purchase RockSim from Apogee Components: www.ApogeeRockets.com/rocksim.asp
Contributed by Tim Van Milligan.
SpaceCAD
SpaceCAD is a design and simulation environment which looks very
complete and professional.
SpaceCAD is now finished and available and you can find more at the
SpaceCAD web site.
SpaceCAD uses wRASP format files. Download wRASP motor data files from this site and edit them into the SPACECAD.ENG file in the installation directory. However, SpaceCAD comes with an up-to-date set of motor data so this shouldn't be necessary initially.
See the SpaceCAD web site or contact Andreas Firnau for more information.
Virtual Range
Virtual Range is a rocket flight simulator for Mac OS X.
With Virtual Range, you can test the stability and performance of model or high power
rocket before you launch it.
The rocket's trajectory is simulated in real time and displayed on the screen,
along with information such as altitude at apogee, maximum speed, and maximum acceleration.
This software is offered as a free download for educational and noncommercial use.
See the
Virtual Range site
for more info and to download.
Virtual Range uses wRASP format files. Download wRASP motor data files from this site and use them for a simulation.
WinRoc
WinRoc is a popular suite of rocketry programs,
which has a very nice graphical user interface.
The WinRoc programs are the easiest to use and the latest version, WinRoc 4.5,
is a 32-bit program for Windows 95 and NT.
You can
download WinRoc directly.
This package was written by Steve Roberson, who passed away in 2003. See the WinRoc page for more info.
WinRoc uses a monolothic motor database in binary format and there is no way to add data for a specific motor without entering it in by hand. Thus, you cannot get data for WinRoc from ThrustCurve.org. See the WinRoc page above for the latest downloads.
wRASP
wRASP is an adaptation of the venerable RASP program for DOS with a Windows user interface.
The DOS version of RASP was based on the BASIC program written by Harry Stine in 1979
and then converted to C by Mark Storin in 1989.
New features were added by Kent Hoult in 1990 and Mark Johnson in 1990-94.
The current version for Windows 95 has an easy installer.
You can download wRASP v2.0 for Windows 95 or later. For more information, see the wRASP site.
ThrustCurve.org provides data for wRASP as text. The wRASP motor file is called RASP.ENG and you can add the downloaded data right to that file or load it separately through the "File|Motor Data File..." menu item. A description of the data file can be found in the v2.0 help file (under Databases). Briefly, each motor is separated by comment lines, beginning with a semicolon. The first line for the motor describes the motor itself and the remaining lines give points on the thrust curve. The motor is terminated by the next comment line.
AeroDRAG
AeroDRAG 4.5 is a computer program developed using Visual Basic 6. It is completely interactive allowing the rocketeer to quickly and easily perform iterative rocket-drag design studies using the power of the Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI). The program can interactively predict supersonic and hypersonic rocket drag coefficient (Cd) up to Mach 10. AeroDRAG uses the Newtonian local surface inclination method to predict supersonic wave drag for nose-body combinations with transonic correction. Transonic correction formulations were derived using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and incorporated within AeroDRAG. More accurate simulations using WinRoc or wRASP may be obtained using the drag coefficient predicted by AeroDRAG.
See the AeroDRAG page for more information and purchase details.
RockSim Engine Editor
The program "Engine Editor" is the software that is used to create engine files. The process of making a motor file is straight-forward. First, the user enters basic data about the rocket motor, such as weights, sizes, and available delay choices. Then the thrust curve is input into the software by clicking points on a grid plot. These points can be moved around to match the actual curve of the rocket motor. As the plot is created, the software calculates the Total Impulse, average Thrust, and Specific Impulse of the engine. Finally, the file is saved to disk, in either RASP.eng or RockSim (.rse) format. While the data files are saved in metric units, the user can enter the raw data in either English or Metric format (or a combination of both).
"Engine Editor" also has features to manage the task of organizing engine data files. You can append two different engine files into one, or break a data file containing several individual motors into separate files.
A new feature being added to Engine Editor will allow a user to read in raw Time/Thrust data from a load cell or Excel file. This will make it easier to create the time/thrust plot for home-brew rocket motors.
The Engine Editor comes bundled with the RockSim software from Apogee Components. It is available for Windows (win95 or newer) or Macintosh OS X (version 10.3 or newer). You can download a trial version or purchase the RockSim/Engine Editor combo-package from Apogee Components: www.ApogeeRockets.com/rocksim.asp
Contributed by Tim Van Milligan.
Thrust Curve Tool
Thrust Curve Tool was designed to analyze rocket motor thrust data and to produce standard ".eng" files for use with flight simulators such as wRASP and RockSim. The program makes it easy to visualize the thrust curve, determine the motor's specifications, plot the data, and produce an optimal ".eng" file. It's now possible to go from motor test firing to rocket simulation in just a few minutes!
See the thrustgear.com site for more info and to download.
SMARTSim
SMARTSim is add-on software that allows you to run multiple RockSim simulations automatically to zero in on an optimized result. This saves you time when you need to know quickly how to improve your rocket design.
SMARTSim has some very interesting optimization features which are worth exploring. It also has a batch simulation capability which can easily be set up by using the Motor Guide and exporting the motors that fit your rocket as a batch. For more info on batch processing in SMARTSim, see the manual.
See the Apogee Components site to purchase SMARTSim.
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