Menlo Park resident plans to launch rocket as part of fundraising effort

A local nonprofit CEO is preparing to launch a 12-foot homemade rocket in Northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert on June 20 as part of a fundraising effort to inspire and support the next generation of innovators.

Technovation Founder and CEO Tara Chklovski, of Menlo Park, spent the past two years teaching herself advanced rocketry, electronics, simulation software, and metalworking to build the rocket, which she estimates could reach 5,000 feet.

The launch is part of Technovation’s “It’s Time to Build” campaign, which helps young people develop technology and entrepreneurship skills.

She said: “There’s a 50-50 chance she will wobble on the launch rails and a 50-50 chance she won’t come back, and that’s the excitement of all this.”

More information about her fundraiser is available online.