Amateur rocket launches

By Duncan Graham-Rowe. An amateur rocket called GoFast has made history by becoming the first such rocket to reach kilometres altitude — the official edge of space. CSXT claims it is the most powerful amateur rocket ever built. As it roared off its launch pad, team members, enthusiasts and US Federal Aviation Administration officials watched cheering it on. The rocket accelerated rapidly, reaching nearly kilometres per hour in just 9 seconds.

By Rachel Courtland. The feat could herald the arrival of the first amateur rockets to reach orbit. The metre-tall, kilogram rocket took off on Saturday from a field outside of Price, Maryland, near the eastern shore. It flew for roughly 20 seconds to an altitude of more than metres before segmenting and falling back to Earth beneath multiple parachutes see video.

When they arrived, their teammates helped them lift the pound rocket onto a launch rail. When he reached zero, Traveler IV shot up off its launchpad, exhaust and flames pouring from its tail. For most of the history of spaceflight, sending a rocket to space required mobilizing resources on a national scale. The V-2 rocket, which was the first to reach space in , took well over a decade to develop and cost the Nazis a fortune. In the eight decades since, dozens of other countries—and a handful of billionaires —have produced their own rockets capable of suborbital flight.

The rocket soared nearly three miles into the sky—an impressive feat, but that's just the beginning for PSAS. The group has its sights set much higher. In the video, you see the ground quickly zoom away as the rocket, dubbed "LV2. It's a stunning sight—and one the group captured unintentionally.