Feature Roadmap
A public view of active development, planned features, and ideas under consideration. Updated as priorities shift.
Import an existing OpenRocket .ork design file to automatically populate APEX with your rocket geometry โ no manual re-entry needed. Extracts airframe dimensions, nose cone shape, fin geometry, and component masses for CG estimation.
Imported geometry is reviewed before the first simulation runs, and the dry CG is computed from a mass-weighted component tree walk.
A set of standalone engineering calculators covering the full HPR workflow, accessible directly within APEX. Phases 1โ3 are live.
Shipped: Ejection Charge Sizing (BP & CO2), Vent Hole Sizing, Parachute Sizing with an 85-entry manufacturer database. Phase 4 (Shear Pin Sizing) is next.
A complete technical reference documenting every model inside APEX โ Barrowman CP equations, the Rogers Modified Barrowman body carryover correction, DATCOM supersonic CP, 7-component drag model, RK4 integrator, ISA atmosphere, and motor integration.
A four-step overhaul of CP prediction and drag modelling for M > 1 rockets, validated against a M2.26 benchmark flight (1.3% altitude error).
Includes: DATCOM 3D Jones supersonic fin CNฮฑ, Rogers Modified Barrowman body carryover (Kbf), shape-specific nose wave drag, and power-on base drag plume correction.
A responsive layout built for phones and tablets. The core simulation loop โ motor loading, geometry entry, apogee, stability margin โ fully functional on a mobile screen with no install required. Designed for the range: a quick sanity check on a motor swap without needing a laptop. Same physics engine, same motor database, same results.
The flight data overlay currently supports Featherweight Blue Raven CSV exports. Expanding to cover the most common HPR altimeter formats so more flyers can validate their models against real data.
Planned support: Altus Metrum (TeleMetrum, EasyMini), Perfectflite, Missile Works RRC3.
Phase 4 of the calculator suite. Given your ejection charge pressure, airframe diameter, and wall thickness, calculate the number and diameter of shear pins needed to hold the airframe during ascent while allowing clean separation at deployment.
Companion to the Ejection Charge calculator โ size the charge, then size the pins that it needs to break.
The Aerodynamics tab currently shows a single total Cd vs Mach curve. This upgrade splits it into a stacked or multi-line breakdown by component โ body friction, nose wave, fin drag, base drag, transonic hump โ so you can see exactly where your drag budget is going at any Mach.
Directly validates the power-on base drag correction: you'd see the base drag component dip during the powered phase.
Export your full APEX session as a structured design document โ geometry, motor, flight prediction, stability analysis, and calculator outputs in a format suitable for a pre-flight design review or certification package.
Primary format: .docx generated client-side (no server required). Charts embedded as images via Plotly export.
Full internal ballistics simulation for experimental solid rocket motors โ grain geometry, propellant burn rate modelling, chamber pressure and thrust curve prediction. Designed motors export directly as .eng files and load straight into the APEX flight simulator. One workflow from grain design to predicted apogee.
A public board where users can submit feature ideas, upvote existing requests, and see status updates as items move through the roadmap. Reduces duplicate submissions and makes it easy to show demand for a feature before it's prioritised.
Project APEX is built for the HPR community. If there's something missing from your workflow, we want to hear about it โ every feature on this roadmap started as a real use case.
Suggest a feature โ