Is Amateur Rocketry in Orbit Possible?

[ANarwhal]

Has an amateur rocket ever made it into orbit?

 

[NeuronsAtWork]

No--although a few have made it into 'space' (more or less straight up and straight down.) The record height that I could find was 77 miles or 124 km on May 18, 2004. The payload was weightless for 7 minutes, and reentry heating did some substantial damage on the way down. See part way down the page here:

http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/Rocketry/2004/AdvRocketryNews-2004-01.html#May.19.04