MARS are working towards an amateur unmanned space capability through a number of interlinked projects

MARS is currently working towards the goal of launching an amateur rocket into space, with the aim of proving that such a feat can be achieved by non-governmental groups on a tiny budget. MARS have been working towards this mammoth goal for over five years now, following a staged & incremental approach. MARS do not believe in wasting our precious time on project management or excessive paperwork. We prefer to follow an approach of hands-on, practical development & testing, to build up our experience & our confidence, allowing the final space vehicle to all but design itself.

Through this process, MARS have developed an approach that allows us to work on several fronts simultaneously - saving time & giving greater scope for practical experience. MARS are developing hybrid rocket motors to power our rockets. We chose hybrid propulsion over solid or liquid propulsion for the simple reasons that it is cheap, safe & reliable. Private solid rocket motor development & to a lesser extent liquid propulsion in the UK, is all but impossible due to legal restrictions on explosive manufacture.

MARS is, at any one time, involved in four distinct projects that are interlinked, & that will eventually unite to provide the technical backbone for the imminent space launch project. These projects are "Guidance" to develop active flight control for rockets to enable them to fly purely vertically. "Propulsion" to develop rocket motors & propulsion related technology. "Phobos" - a project that uses "HPR" & "off-the-shelf" rocket hardware to flight test systems to high altitude, & the "Deimos" Project, a series of amateur hybrid motor powered rockets of increasing size & power that will lead directly to the space capable rocket.