For the fourth consecutive year, Rollon renews its partnership with Skyward Experimental Rocketry, the student association of Politecnico di Milano, in support of the Orion rocket’s participation at the 2025 European Rocketry Challenge. Once again, Rollon’s linear motion technology plays a critical role in the rocket’s aerobrake system and test equipment, reinforcing the company’s long-standing commitment to education, research and aerospace innovation.
Rollon and Skyward Experimental Rocketry – a multidisciplinary student association of the Politecnico di Milano – are celebrating four years of ongoing collaboration. As in previous editions, Rollon is providing technical support and motion solutions to help the team launch their latest creation, the Orion rocket, at the 2025 edition of the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC), the first university rocketry competition in Europe.
Orion, successor to last year’s Lyra, is a hybrid rocket that combines nitrous oxide in liquid form as an oxidant and a solid fuel grain made from paraffin wax and ABS. Just like its predecessors, Orion integrates Rollon® linear guides on its aerobrakes, a crucial system that allows the rocket to regulate speed during flight in order to reach or get as close as possible to the target altitude of 3,000 metres. Thanks to the robustness and load-bearing capacity of the Rollon® guides, the aerobrake mechanism can operate reliably at speeds of up to 1000 km/h and under a load of around 20 kg per guide, ensuring the precise movement required for extraction and retraction.
Supporting engineering practice on the ground
Beyond the rocket itself, Rollon continues to support Skyward’s development work with motion components on ground testing systems. For the second year, the team is using a test stand for tank mass measurement that incorporates Rollon® Compact Rail Plus linear guides – enabling accurate and repeatable test results essential to mission success.
“We are happy to be able to count on Rollon’s products and experience this year as well,” says Michele Dicorato, Head of Structures Department at Skyward. “The ongoing collaboration with the aerospace experts of Rollon has allowed us to achieve important results and implement significant improvements throughout the years.”
Investing in the future of aerospace engineering
The partnership between Rollon and Skyward began in 2022 with the successful launch of the Pyxis rocket, followed by Gemini in 2023 – winner of the Technical Award – and Lyra in 2024, which secured another victory at EuRoC. Over time, this collaboration has evolved into a meaningful exchange of expertise between academia and industry, reflecting Rollon’s commitment to supporting young engineering talent and fostering innovation in aerospace technologies.
“Aerospace is a key market for Rollon and we’ve gained extensive experience within the sector,” says Alberto De Giorgi, Business Development Manager at Rollon. “We are glad to be collaborating with associations like Skyward to support young talents who contribute to the technological innovation of the sector and to act as a bridge between universities and the manufacturing world.”
Looking ahead to EuRoC 2025
Following a test launch in Roccaraso, Italy, Skyward will take part in the 2025 edition of the European Rocketry Challenge from 9–15 October in Constância, Portugal. The team’s Orion rocket is poised to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors – once again powered, in part, by Rollon motion technology.
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Rollon: Motion Technology for All Types of Automation
Founded in 1975, for 50 years Rollon has specialized in the production and development of linear motion systems. Since 2018, Rollon has been a part of The Timken Company, representing the linear motion unit within the Industrial Motion segment of Timken. Rollon’s solutions are globally adopted in industrial automation, aerospace, medical equipment, material handling, and other sectors where product performance, efficiency and reliability are essential. With the acquisition by The Timken Company of Nadella, Chiavette Unificate, Durbal, Shuton-Ipiranga, and Rosa Sistemi, Rollon is now able to offer its customers an even more comprehensive product range – from linear components, actuators and systems to ball screws and rotational units.
Skyward Experimental Rocketry
Skyward Experimental Rocketry is a student association of Politecnico di Milano founded in 2012 that now has more than one hundred members from different faculties (aerospace, mechanics, computer science, and electronics). Created with the intention of enabling students to get real practice with the theoretical knowledge learnt in class, it has achieved the goal of launching probe rockets beyond 1,000 meters.
The European Rocketry Challenge
Organized by the Portuguese space agency, the European Rocketry Challenge began in 2020 as the first European competition among student associations involved in rocket design and launching. Each year, teams from all over Europe come to Portugal to compete in a precision launching competition in two categories – 3,000 and 9,000 meters. Points are earned by getting closest to the altitude target and, later, retrieving the falling rocket at a specific location. Other awards are also given during the event to acknowledge the best technical report, best teamwork, best design and best flight performance.
Photos © Skyward Experimental Rocketry
Linear guides supplied by Rollon help to ensure the correct functioning of the aerobrakes.
The Test Stand mounts Rollon’s Compact Rail Plus guides for tank mass measurement.
