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Ten seniors at Ranchview High School received a $10,000 boost from Mark Cuban to help pursue an ambitious aerospace goal: becoming the first high school team in the country to build and launch a rocket that reaches 50,000 feet.
The target would surpass the current high school student-built rocket altitude record of 45,482 feet, set by a team from Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas.
The students, part of Ranchview’s Institute of Technology & Engineering, secured the funding after making what began as a long-shot request for support. Before receiving the donation from Mark Cuban Companies, the team presented its rocket specifications and explained how the money would help pay for raw materials and safety equipment.
“We want to be the first team in the country to reach 50,000 feet,” said senior Arnav Chugh. “There are only 10 schools in the whole country working on these kinds of projects.”
The team aims to launch its rocket at White Sands Missile Range in June 2027. The students recently presented their work at NASA in Houston, sharing their project with professionals in the aerospace field.
The donation brings the team closer to its goal, said Meason Kolkhorst, Ranchview’s career and technical education academy facilitator and aerospace and engineering teacher.
“We have the math right for this project, we know what we need, and now we have to build it,” Kolkhorst said. “We’re grateful to Mark Cuban for helping make that possible.”
Principal Robert Atchison said community support helps students turn their ideas into practical solutions.
“Our students have brilliant minds, and donations like this help them apply what they’re learning to real-world challenges,” Atchison said.
For the students, the funding represents more than a financial boost. It’s a chance to put their engineering skills to the test as they work toward a launch that could boldly take their rocket where no high school team has gone before.
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