? Problem Statement: Rocket Design and Flight Simulation Application

Overview

There is a critical need for an intuitive, extensible, and technically rigorous software application that empowers hobbyists, students, certification candidates, and early-career engineers to design, simulate, and optimize low-power, mid-power, high-power, and amateur-class rockets. The tool must emphasize accessibility, modularity, and educational transparency, and be written in clean, modern C++ using an object-oriented architecture. It must support both immediate practical needs (rocket design, flight prediction) and deeper study of aerospace physics and software engineering principles.

The platform must remain open-source, support .ork file compatibility, and operate reliably across Linux, Mac, and Windows environments.

Goals

Modern Design Tools: Allow users to easily create and modify rocket models, specifying parameters like airframes, mass properties, center of gravity (CG), center of pressure (CP), propulsion systems, and aerodynamic surfaces.
Physics-Based Flight Simulation: Simulate rocket flight through launch, coast, apogee, descent, and recovery, using accurate force models (thrust, drag, gravity, weather effects).
Extensible Simulation Architecture: Architect the system to initially support 3 Degree-of-Freedom (3-DoF) simulations, but natively prepare for future extension to 6-DoF (full 3D translation and rotation dynamics) without major rework.
Educational Transparency: Build the codebase to be highly readable, logically organized, and deeply documented, promoting learning about flight dynamics and systems modeling.
Component Modularity: Each rocket component (e.g., motors, fins, payloads, recovery systems) must exist as independent, interchangeable modules.
Visualization: Provide meaningful visual outputs, including:
- 2D/3D trajectory plots
- Stability margin graphs (e.g., CG-CP margin over time)
- Thrust, velocity, and altitude vs. time graphs
Certification-Ready Fidelity: Achieve simulation fidelity that can support Tripoli Rocketry Association and NAR Level 3 certification requirements.
Competitive Capability: Aim to function as a drop-in replacement or superior alternative to tools like OpenRocket and RockSim Pro.
Cross-Platform Support: Deliver fully supported builds on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

User Personas

Hobbyist Rocketeer: Designs and refines personal rockets, needing accuracy and usability without extensive technical setup.
High School/University Student: Builds rockets for courses, competitions, or research projects, using simulation to test and verify designs.
STEM Educator: Leverages the tool in classrooms to teach core concepts of dynamics, propulsion, aerodynamics, and systems engineering.
Certification Candidate (NAR/Tripoli): Designs rockets intended for Level 1, 2, or 3 certification and needs trustworthy simulation results.
Aerospace Engineering Student/Professional: Uses the tool to prototype amateur designs, and values modular, clear, and modern C++ code.

Operating Constraints

Language: Must be written in modern C++ (C++17 or newer) with strong attention to modularity, memory safety, and performance.
Portability: Must fully support Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms with minimal platform-specific code.
Open Source: Must be licensed under a permissive open-source license (e.g., MIT or BSD 3-clause) to encourage adoption, study, and contribution.
File Format Compatibility: Must support import/export of OpenRocket (.ork) files, ensuring interoperability with existing hobbyist ecosystems.
Performance: Must run smoothly on consumer-grade hardware and support both interactive design work and batch simulation runs for optimization.
Incremental Upgrades: Initial release will support 3-DoF dynamics (translational motion only) but architecture must cleanly allow extension to full 6-DoF dynamics (translational + rotational motion).

User Interface Requirements

Modular Design: The UI should be modular, allowing for easy addition of new features and components without breaking existing functionality.
Intuitive Interaction: The interface should be intuitive and user-friendly, with clear labels, tooltips, and responsive design.

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