Does it take longer to prep a hybrid rocket than a solid rocket ?
Yes and no. It takes longer to set up the ground support equipment for a hybrid rocket motor, simply because there is no separate oxidiser involved with a solid rocket motor (a solid rocket motor contains both the fuel and the oxidiser bound into the solid propellant). If all the equipment is already available and is largely pre-assembled, then initial hybrid motor ground support setup can take as little as 5 minutes. To prep a typical Hypertek or R.A.T.TWorks hybrid rocket motor takes less time than an equivalent solid rocket motor, simply because there is less to prep. However, hybrid rocket motors do not have ejection charges like solid rocket motors do, so time needs to be allowed to prep an ejection charge fired from an electronic recovery deployment system such as an altimeter, accelerometer, altimeter/accelerometer or timer. So, to summarise, with practice, prepping a hybrid rocket motor can take less time than a solid rocket motor, but more often than not, it will take at least
