One giant leap for African space technology with UKZN rocket launch
Updated | By Jacaranda FM
The Minister said the launch is hugely
significant for South African engineering and the development of African
satellite rocket launch capability.
The Minister of
Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande has
congratulated the developers of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)'s
Phoenix-1B Mark IIr sounding rocket on their successful test launch that took
place at the Denel Overberg Test Range in the Western Cape on Tuesday.
The successful launch saw the test rocket travel 17,9 km into the air achieving a new African hybrid rocket altitude record.
The Minister said the launch is hugely significant for South African engineering and the development of African satellite rocket launch capability.
The Phoenix-1B Mark IIr is the third rocket variant to be developed by the UKZN's Aerospace Systems Research Group (ASReG), which is funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).
The first, the Phoenix-1A, was flight tested in 2014, but experienced a nozzle failure, which limited altitude.
The second launch, in 2019, of the Phoenix-1B Mark II, was unsuccessful because of a software fault in the code that controlled the opening and closing of the main oxidizer valve. Valuable lessons were learnt from past failures, which assisted in today's successful launch of the cost-effective Phoenix-1B Mark IIr, a revised version of the Mark II lost in 2019.
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ASReG's Phoenix Hybrid Rocket Programme is a skills development initiative that focuses on suborbital launch vehicle design and testing.
The Phoenix-1B Mark IIr hybrid rocket, developed by postgraduate students under the supervision of ASReG, reached an altitude of 17,9 km and a velocity of twice the speed of sound. The rocket was launched seawards and was not recovered.
The Minister said that this success was a historic moment for South African space science.
"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.
"Recent disruptive satellite technology trends are reshaping the traditional launch market using launch technologies with a reduced entry barrier (cost and complexity) and leveraging significant South African heritage technologies. 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.
He explained that the ASReG programme was a multi-pronged strategy through which South Africa was developing human capital, and projects like the Phoenix-1B Mark IIr provided opportunities to do just that.
Muofhe said that the government would continue to invest in the project, which was resulting in critical research and development in engineering, infrastructure and technology.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal is currently the only South African university pursuing an applied rocket propulsion programme, producing graduates with skills in advanced manufacturing, aerospace systems design, and computational analysis.
Sounding rockets are rocket-propelled launch vehicles that carry experimental payloads to the upper reaches of the atmosphere or into space. They play a crucial role in facilitating experiments in a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including biotechnology, astronomy, astrophysics, materials science and meteorology. The Phoenix-1B Mark IIr hybrid rocket was developed as a technology demonstration platform from which a future commercial sounding rocket programme can be developed.
The DSI is funding the ASReG programme, which started in 2010.
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