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.
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