Kip Daugirdas hits over 89km AGL with a two-stage rocket

[plugger.lockett]

To my knowledge this is the current altitude record for an individual effort.

From his Rocketryforum post

I flew my latest rocket to 293,488 ft (that’s 55.6 miles high) and reached speeds over 4 times the speed of sound. This was a massive effort for me that spanned several years (2020-2022) and tested me, at times, to the limits of my sanity. I dreamt and daydreamed of this result but always knew that failure was the most likely outcome with projects of this nature. I’m still reeling from the success. Check out these initial photos and enjoy!

Rocket Info….
Booster: 4.50” / Sustainer: 3.00” diameter
Weight: 87lbs at pad
Length: 12.3ft
Payload: 2x GoPro 9 with rectilinear lenses (one shooting 4K/60fps and the other photos)
Avionics sustainer: Multitronix Kate 3.0, Featherweight Raven 4
Avionics booster: 2x Featherweight Raven 4, Beeline GPS
Motors:
Experimental O4500 (32,943 N-s at Sea Level)
Experimental M830 (7,743 N-s at Sea Level)

There are a number of pics in his thread
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/project-mesos-a-two-stage-flight-to-293-488-ft.175175/

[Jrcraft]

That's past the US definition of space. Incredibly impressive.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Launch video.

[plugger.lockett]

Kip is still processing media but had onboard footage all the way to apogee. Looking forward to him putting that up!

[plugger.lockett]

Here's Kip's video

[Oersted]

SpaceX should hire this guy.