Five years after becoming the first students to launch a rocket into space, the University of Southern California Rocket Propulsion Lab soared past 470,000 feet for the highest amateur spaceflight. Such feats have made it a top incubator for space industry talent. This could not be happening. Five years after becoming the first students to launch a rocket into space, the University of Southern California Rocket Propulsion Lab (USCRPL) was readying a redesigned model, Aftershock II, for an even higher ascent from Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.