UWaterloo student rocketry team sets world record

The University of Waterloo’s rocketry team has set a new world record for the highest amateur liquid rocket ever launched. At the 2026 Launch Canada Challenge, the Waterloo Rocketry team launched a liquid-fuel rocket to an altitude of 63,497 feet, breaking the previous world record of 56,560 feet. The team designed and built a 17-foot-long rocket that weighs 300 pounds when fully fueled and equipped it with an extensive parachute system to bring the rocket safely back to earth. “This whole system is just ridiculously overbuilt,” said UWaterloo student Luca Scavone of the parachute system. “You can tell that we were a little paranoid about not getting the rocket back this year.”