SPARK 1, Nevada’s first student-built bi-propellant rocket engine.

The Student Propelled Aerospace Rocket Kickstart Engine 1 (SPARK 1 for short) was the first bi-propellant engine developed by SEDS UNLV, doubling as the first bi-propellant rocket engine developed by Nevadan students. The engine is primarily resin 3D-printed to cut down on costs and produces 35 pounds of thrust with a combustion chamber pressure of 100 absolute pounds per square inch. The entire project was built from the ground up, from scratch, and cost less than $6,000. The project started in July of 2022, and the goal was to make a working engine. On May of 2024, the club hotfired the engine 2 times, cementing the project’s success.