Portfolio

Florian Havard

Engineering projects since 2019

Fourth-year engineering student at ESTACA, Space track (launchers and satellites). Seeking a 4- to 5-month internship between May and September 2027, ideally abroad.

Interested in launch vehicles and spacecraft, from mechanical design and systems work to integration and testing. Design office internship at Hemeria in 2025.

florian.havard@estaca.euLinkedIn

Fusion 360 drawing of an interface ring, 206 mm diameter
Interface ring, Fusion 360 drawing, January 2026

Featured, ESL-2, 2025 to 2026

ESL-2 recovery system, from CAD to prototype

Read the project
The problem

The mechanism had to fit into a 25 mm thick annular volume, 200 mm outer diameter and 150 mm inner diameter, and still clear a 10 m² parachute.

What I did

A spring-loaded catapult ring guided on linear rails pushes the nose cone out. Until then, the nose cone is locked by 6 axial pins released by electric linear actuators.

Issue found and fixed

One actuator mount was under-constrained. Its push finger drifted off axis, leaving the nose cone locked. The mount was corrected, and the prototype completed a bench ejection test. Qualification testing of the full system is still ahead.

Ejection bay in Fusion 360, nose cone locked
Fusion 360 CAD, nose cone locked
Prototype, linear rail, springs and actuators
Prototype, May 2026

Projects by domain

2025-2026Prototype built

ESL-2 recovery system, design and prototype

Nose cone ejection redesigned to fit a 25 mm thick annular volume. From Fusion 360 CAD to a prototype that completed a bench ejection test.

Structures and mechanical design / Assembly, integration and test / Project management
2026-2027In progress

ESL program management

ESL program co-lead, in charge of the ESL-2 rocket. Schedules, line-by-line budget forecast, 15 students interviewed for the structures team.

Project management
2026-2027In progress

ESL-2 embedded systems

This year, with a team of 9, we are building on Hermès, the avionics that flew on ESL-1, for the ESL-2 avionics, recovery electronics and onboard control of the NAGA hybrid engine.

Avionics and electronics / Software
2026In design, nothing built yet

RadFA, woven fabric winding machine

Meant to produce the 5 m long ESL composite skins. Simplified CAD in Fusion 360 and first version of the control board.

Structures and mechanical design / Avionics and electronics
2023-2025Flown

MiniRockets, MF39 Velocity Raptor

Project manager of MF39 Velocity Raptor, a small sounding rocket. At C'Space 2025, a fault found after qualification, solder joints redone, nominal flight the next day.

Structures and mechanical design / Avionics and electronics / Assembly, integration and test / Project management
2025-2026Coursework

Alouette II rear transfer gearbox

A helicopter tail rotor gearbox redrawn around imposed new bearings, so that it still assembles and still fits the aircraft. CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE, in pairs.

Structures and mechanical design
2025-2027Coursework

Mission analysis, Artemis II in GMAT and KSP

Artemis II from Earth orbit to atmospheric entry in GMAT, each phase solved with the differential corrector. And a first mission to Minmus in KSP.

Mission analysis
2023-2025Coursework

Programming coursework, Years 1 and 2

C, C++ and Python course projects. Three console programs replayed step by step, and a maze-solving robot shown with its algorithm.

Software
2019-2026Personal

Personal projects, where it started

From a camera dolly arm built at 14 from a dismantled printer to a desktop radar.

Avionics and electronics
Outside engineering

Astrophotography

Deep sky, Moon, Sun and aurora, with a refractor and a Celestron NexStar Evolution.

Sky observation