K-State team breaks rocketry world record

MANHATTAN (KSNT) - The Kansas State University (K-State) Wildcat Rocketry team took first place and broke a world record at rocket completion in Argonia, Kansas.

This year over 20 colleges participated in the 2025 Argonia Cup. The competition tests designs and efficiency of two-stage rockets carrying golf ball payloads to the highest altitudes possible.

This year, K-State's "Purple Horizon" 'L-impulse' rocket reached a record shattering 35,439 feet at a speed of 1,050 miles per hour. The next highest altitude reached was by the University of Colorado, Boulder, which reached a height of 24,290 feet.

Ben Monday, senior in mechanical engineering and current president of Wildcat Rocketry, said in a K-State press release that the Wildcat Rocketry focused on altitude instead of payload size or motor size to achieve its score.

"All of our electronics, recovery and parachutes worked exactly like they were supposed to, and our team was very efficient in its prep work," Monday said. "Both of those already give us huge advantages over other schools, but the biggest thing that went right for us was our interstage coast time."

For more information about the 2025 Argonia Cup, click here. You can find the K-State press release here.

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