Project Cavour

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, was one of the leading figures of the Italian Unification and the main promoter of Italy’s industrial and scientific development. He was born in Turin in 1810, and died in Turin in 1861, being the first prime minister of Italy. PoliTo Rocket Team's first project is named after him.
In accord with the Team's Mission & Vision, Cavour's design is simple and pragmatic, thought to draw the way for future projects. It is also the first rocket of the Founding Fathers series.
Cavour is a single-stage, 2.25m long, solid propelled rocket, with a variable target altitude and mission profile. It is composed of three compartments, the motor bay, which holds the commercial solid motor, the avionics bay, which includes the electronics and the telemetry system, and the recovery bay, which contains the parachutes and the other recovery components. The airframe has an internal diameter of 100mm and makes extended use of novel composites materials and advanced additive-manufactured carbon-reinforced polymers.
Cavour has completed its design phase and the Team has completed the construction of the first prototype. The mission objectives of Cavour’s first launch are the validation of flight simulations and the testing of the rocket's integrated systems. At the end of June 2023, Cavour will be launched in New Mexico’s desert during the Spaceport America Cup 2023, with a 4kg-heavy scientific payload. Project Cavour will evolve towards a future reusable rocket with a larger payload capacity, capable of conducting scientific experiments inexpensively and reliably at a precise predetermined apogee.