Using a custom-built launch tower, Qu8k (pronounced as “quake” in homage to Carmack’s id software classic video game) made a safe return in a parachute descent that took another 7.5 minutes. It was fully recovered only three miles from the launch site (the Prize requirements include recovery of the intact rocket within 24 hours of the launch).
Constructed from aluminum and measuring 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter and 167.5 inches (425 cm) in length, the Qu8k’s rocket used APCP rocket propellent to give it a maximum velocity during the ascent of 3,200 ft/s (975.36 m/s). via gizmag
