Aftershock II is believed to be the world’s first civilian-built rocket to reach an altitude of 470,000 feet.
Photo from space. The nose cone of USCRPL’s rocket points towards the moon, across Earth’s horizon
Aftershock II, the latest rocket designed and built by the student-run USC Rocket Propulsion Lab (USCRPL) at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, has broken the international altitude record – reaching further into space than any non-governmental and non-commercial group has ever flown before.
The previous 20-year record of 380,000 feet was set by Civilian Space Exploration Team back in 2004. Aftershock II beats that record by 90,000 ft.
It also builds upon the group’s record as the first and only student organization to launch a student-designed and built rocket past the Kármán line in 2019.
“This achievement represents several engineering firsts,” said Ryan Kraemer, executive engineer of USCRPL and an undergraduate student majoring in mechanical engineering. “Aftershock II is distinguished by the most powerful solid-propellant motor ever fired by students and the most powerful composite case motor made by amateurs.”
In 2019, the USCRPL Traveler IV rocket was the first collegiate-designed and built rocket to pass the Kármán line, the boundary separating Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. Since then, the student-run team have been striving to beat their own record, seeking to claim the altitude record for amateur rocketry worldwide.
The successful launch of Aftershock II took place on October 20 in the Black Rock Desert rocket launch area, Nevada (the student white paper verifying the data was posted on November 14th). Equipped with a new avionics unit and improved safety and data integration, Aftershock II reached a velocity of 5283 ft/s and Mach 5.5. The comparatively lightweight rocket amounted to 330 pounds, at a height of 13 ft and 8” diameter.
Crucially, the endurance of the rocket at hypersonic speeds was made possible by a thermal protection system that included new paint and titanium-coated fins.