Most builders fly the same hardware again and again: the same 38 mm tube stock, the same rail buttons, the same chute. Presets capture those specs once; materials make sure every part weighs what the real one does.
Applying presets#
Every part editor has a preset selector. Pick a preset and the part takes on its saved specification (dimensions, construction, material) in one step. The library includes built-in presets for common commercial components (seeded from the OpenRocket parts database) alongside anything you've saved yourself, and a badge on the part shows when a preset is in play.
Saving presets#
Dial in a part you'll use again — a coupler you buy by the bag, a fin can you've standardized on — and save it as a preset with a name and description, straight from the part editor. It becomes available in every rocket you build from then on. Presets are per part type and capture the fields that define it.
Managing materials#
ZenRockets calculates part mass from material density. The built-in library includes airframe materials such as fiberglass, carbon fiber, kraft phenolic and Blue Tube; woods and foams; metals; 3D-printing plastics; canopy fabrics; and materials for shock cords and shroud lines.
Each material records how it's measured — bulk solids by volume density, fabrics by areal density, cords by linear density — and is tagged with the part types it suits, so the picker for a parachute offers fabrics, not aluminum. If your stock isn't in the list, create a custom material with its measured density, inline from any part editor, and it joins the library for all your designs.
Dashboard management#
The dashboard gives presets and materials their own management pages: browse what you've saved, edit names, descriptions and values, or remove entries you no longer use. A preset or material is copied into a part when you apply it. Catalog edits affect future selections; existing parts keep their saved dimensions and density until you reapply the entry.