Black Rock Desert, Nevada—A team of college students from the University of Southern California (USC) shattered the world record for the highest altitude reached by an amateur rocket, launching their self-built Aftershock II rocket an astonishing 89 miles above Earth on October 20.

Their achievement not only surpassed the previous record of 73 miles, set two decades ago but also broke the speed barrier for amateur rockets, reaching an extraordinary pace of one mile per second.

Students propel amateur rocketry to new heights

The mission, spearheaded by the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (RPL), was a collaborative effort involving about 100 students from diverse majors. The launch took place in Nevada’s remote Black Rock Desert and demonstrated the team’s engineering prowess, with students designing, building, and launching the rocket independently.

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“This was probably the coolest thing we had ever gotten the opportunity to do,” said Operations Lead and aerospace engineering major Jayna Rybner. “We’re just college students with homework, dishes, and groceries to handle, and we sent a rocket to space. We broke the world record and sent a rocket higher than any amateur ever has.”

An impressive feat of innovation

The students tackled every aspect of the project—from designing circuit boards and computer systems to constructing the rocket itself. They even implemented real-time tracking for the rocket during its record-breaking journey.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean Yannis Yortsos praised their ingenuity: “All this technology is developed by our students themselves. It’s all done in-house. Our students get advice from faculty, but they develop everything on their own. We’re so proud because they’re doing something extraordinary and learning how to pass this knowledge on to the next generation.”

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Professor Paul David Ronney, chair of USC’s Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering department, likened the RPL to a miniature corporation. “The students coming out of this lab have gone on to leadership positions in major aerospace companies,” he said, underscoring the impact of their hands-on experience.

Eyes set on future milestones

While the Aftershock II mission reached just 3.8 miles short of the maximum altitude allowed for amateur rocketry, the students remained undeterred. Newer members of the lab are already planning to surpass their predecessors’ accomplishments.

“This freshman class has four more years to take what we did and make it even crazier, even better, even cheaper, and even more efficient to manufacture,” Rybner remarked, inspiring the next generation of innovators.

The USC Rocket Propulsion Lab’s historic feat demonstrates not only technical expertise but also the boundless potential of student-driven projects in pushing the limits of space exploration.