The first ever student team to launch a rocket into space

A team from the University of Southern California’s Rocket Propulsion Laboratory has become the first student team in the world to launch a rocket into space.

Neil Tewksbury, the team’s Lead Operations Officer, talks about how the team worked to launch the Traveller 4 into space. They tested out the equipment without any help from the government or access to simulation tunnels. Everything was done on the ground, and they worked with the government for all clearances, which took a few years.

They also built their own avionics unit to determine and track the rocket’s success—which crossed the internationally recognised Karman line and declared entry into space.

The traveller 4 went up 300,000 feet at a top speed of 3386 miles per hour. While there were 3 versions before that failed, the team learnt from each to build the 4th that succeeded, making them the first team to design, build and launch a rocket into space.

Watch Neil Tewksbury talk about the team’s journey to success here.