Ironbark: Trajectory and aerodynamic simulator for high-power student rockets

Accurate prediction of apogee is a critical requirement in student rocketry competitions and presents a challenge due to the competing demands of aerodynamic fidelity, computational cost, and usability. This paper presents Ironbark, an automated aerodynamic and trajectory simulation framework developed by USYD Rocketry Team for high-power sounding rockets. Rather than introducing new aerodynamic or flight-dynamics formulations, Ironbark integrates established high-fidelity methods into a unified, design-oriented workflow. The framework couples an automated implementation of the higher-order inviscid panel code PANAIR with analytical viscous drag models and a tailored six-degree-of-freedom trajectory solver, enabling aerodynamic prediction across subsonic and supersonic flight regimes without requiring specialist CFD expertise. This integration provides aerodynamic fidelity approaching that of CFD at a fraction of the computational cost, making the framework suitable for both rapid analysis and iterative design studies. The aerodynamic predictions produced by Ironbark are validated against experimental data, and the trajectory model is assessed through a statistical analysis of apogee predictions for Bluewren, the rocket that won the 2022 Spaceport America Cup. The results demonstrate that automated panel-based aerodynamic modelling can offer a practical and accurate alternative to both low-fidelity empirical tools and computationally intensive CFD approaches in student rocket design.