The Civilian Space eXploration Team, also known as the CSXT, is a team of around 30 civilians interested in private spaceflight. The team was created by Ky Michaelson. Having conducted multiple rocket launches in an attempt to establish altitude records, CSXT became the first entity to officially launch an amateur rocket into space on May 17, 2004, with the successful launch of its GoFast rocket to an altitude of 116 km (72 miles) above the surface, which was verified by FAA analysis of the team's flight data. Prior privately funded space launches were achieved by the Orbital Sciences Pegasus, and many other amateur teams have made unverified claims of rocket flights exceeding the boundary of space.

Team composition

Currently, Ky Michaelson is the CSXT program director. The CSXT's program is subdivided into three teams:

History

The team was established in 1995 by a group of model rocket hobbyists interested in spaceflight. The team is supported by corporate sponsorship.

D.R. Hero

The D.R. Hero rocket was launched in August 1995. It was dedicated to stuntman Dar Robinson, a late friend of Ky Michaelson. The rocket was 18 ft tall and 6 in in diameter. It was anticipated to reach 100000 ft. This rocket failed in a large CATO (catastrophe at take off) motor failure just above the ground.

Joe Boxer launches

Launched on August 18, 1996, this rocket was also 18 ft tall and 6 inches in diameter. The name is attributed to the largest contributing sponsor, Joe Boxer. It was anticipated to reach 70000 ft; however, the actual height obtained was only 66000 ft. The entire rocket was recovered after what was considered a successful flight. All of the rocket's systems functioned as intended and this flight was claimed to be the first amateur rocket to be recovered intact after reaching more than 50000 ft.

Space shots

1997

Launched on July 21, 1997, this slightly smaller rocket was 17 ft tall and 6 inches in diameter, with an upper stage dart, which was only 3 or 4 inches across. It was the first two-stage rocket launched by CSXT and was expected to reach 400000 ft. During the launch, an electronics failure prevented the ignition of the second stage, though the first stage successfully detached and was recovered with a parachute.

2000

This rocket was launched on September 29, 2000, and was 15 ft tall and 8.625 inches in diameter. It was expected to reach 60 nmi with a maximum speed of 3205 mi/h. After launch, the rocket encountered problems at 45000 ft, where the wind sheared off the fin, causing the rocket to break apart. Although the launch was fairly unsuccessful, it did set a record for amateur rocket speed of 3205 mi/h.

2002

This rocket was launched on September 19, 2002. It was launched at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The rocket was equipped with a solid propellant motor. The motor was to accelerate the rocket to Mach 5. The rocket was equipped with GPS receivers and antennas, video recording devices, and a series of flight monitoring devices. Three seconds after the rocket launched the motor burned through the casing, causing the rocket to fail.

2004 "GoFast"

The rocket was launched on Monday, May 17, 2004. This rocket was the first amateur rocket to exceed 100 km, the official boundary of outer space. It was launched at the Black Rock Desert. The rocket reached top speed of 3420 mi/h in 10 seconds, and reached an estimated altitude of 72 mi. The avionics were recovered by deployment of a parachute. The final verified altitude of the rocket was released as 72 mi. The rocket was 21 ft tall and 10 in in diameter, and used an ammonium perchlorate-based solid propellant.

2014 "GoFast"

On July 14, 2014, the team repeated their accomplishment with a second successful space launch. Analysis of the data from the recovered military-grade Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that flew onboard shows that the GoFast rocket reached an altitude of 385,800 ft above mean sea level and hit a top speed of 3580 mi/h.