This Rocket Selfie Camera Is Built to Survive a 50 MPH Face-Plant

As the recent Artemis II mission to the Moon reminded us, there are few things cooler than rockets. However, getting a glimpse of rockets in action is difficult. Even when you are near the launch site, you only get a brief look before it vanishes into the distance. The same is true of more powerful hobby rockets. When one of these little rockets travels tens of thousands of feet into the air, you really have no idea what’s happening.

Joe Barnard wanted to fix this. His solution was to design and build a custom selfie camera that ejects at apogee to capture video of the rocket in flight. As a bonus, it kind of gives off the vibes of a rocket deploying a satellite into orbit, although this camera is destined to come crashing back to Earth. And I do mean crashing — it doesn’t even have a parachute!

The system is split into two main parts: a flying camera pod and a deployer housing mounted inside the rocket’s nose cone. At peak altitude — around 30,000 feet — the housing uses a spring-loaded mechanism, triggered by onboard flight computers, to eject the pod into open air.

Capturing usable footage requires the pod to remain relatively stable despite turbulent airflow and the violent nature of ejection. Rather than relying on complex active stabilization systems, Barnard pursued a “semi-active” approach. The key innovation is a brass flywheel spun by a high-speed motor, effectively acting as a gyroscope. By increasing the pod’s angular momentum, the system resists tumbling and keeps the camera pointed toward the rocket long enough to capture dramatic third-person footage.

The pod itself is very compact. It carries a GoPro camera, selected over 360-degree alternatives due to resolution limitations when cropping slow-motion footage. A GPS tracker with LoRa communication and onboard inertial sensors ensures the pod can be recovered even if signal is temporarily lost during descent. All components are housed in a 3D-printed chassis designed with careful attention to weight distribution and center of mass.

Much of the development process focused on solving subtle mechanical problems. Early tests revealed that the pod tended to pitch downward upon release, likely due to uneven forces at the final point of contact with the deployer. Barnard experimented with bearings, lubricants, and structural redesigns to reduce friction and eliminate unwanted torque. Eventually, a combination of smooth internal surfaces and lightweight lubrication produced more consistent ejection behavior.

Interestingly, the pod’s descent is entirely ballistic. By keeping the mass around 100 grams and minimizing drag, Barnard calculated a terminal velocity in the range of 40 to 50 miles per hour. The design accepts the hard landing as a trade-off, reinforcing critical components like the SD card to survive impact.

In the end, Barnard got a unique perspective rarely seen in amateur rocketry: a fleeting, cinematic view of a rocket mid-flight, captured by a tiny device that briefly becomes its own satellite before plummeting back to Earth. Be sure to check out the video to see it in action.