A hybrid sounding rocket developed by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has set a new altitude record by reaching 17.9 km into the earth’s atmosphere at twice the speed of sound. The launch, conducted on Monday 8 March, proved to be third time lucky for the team of students after earlier failures in 2014 and 2019.

The university’s Aerospace Systems Research Group (ASReG) is leading South Africa’s charge in applied rocket propulsion programmes. Funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the research group was founded in 2009 and has focused on developing hybrid rockets. The rockets use a mix of liquid and solid propellants, to launch sounding equipment into space.

Sounding rockets, unlike satellites which orbit around the earth, carry experimental payloads for research purposes. These instruments are used to study astronomy, astrophysics, materials science, and meteorology.

In 2014, the Phoenix-1A rocket – the first to be developed by ASReG – launched but failed to achieve the desired altitude due to a nozzle failure. Five years later, the Phoenix-1B Mark II experienced a software failure which resulted in the rocket launching just 20 metres above the platform before crashing back into the ground and exploding.

The third instalment, Phoenix-1B Mark IIr, was launched on Monday 8 March at Denel’s Overberg Test Range, roughly 200 km away from Cape Town. Unlike previous attempts, the launch of Phoenix-1B Mark IIr was an outstanding success.

The rocket reached 17.9 km into the atmosphere, beating the previous African record for a hybrid launch of 10.3 km. The successful launch has been lauded as an “historic moment for South African space science” by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, who congratulated ASReG.

"This is a game-changer for South African space science and positions the country to take the lead on the continent in the development of rocket launch capabilities," said Nzimande.

The Phoenix-1B Mark IIr test rocket was launched towards the ocean and was not recovered, as intended. UKZN is currently the only university offering an applied rocket propulsion programme which focuses on manufacturing, aerospace systems design, and computational analysis.

“The target market is commercial small satellite launches with payload of 200 kg to an altitude of 500 km, and sounding rocket launches into space from Overberg Test Range," said Dr Mmboneni Muofhe, the department’s deputy director-general of technology innovation, who added that the government would continue to fund aerospace engineering, infrastructure, and technology.

Several alumni who have passed through ASReG have gone on to work with Armscor, Milkor and Rheinmetall Denel Munition in key technical positions, according to the DSI.