Durban - A group of University of KwaZulu-Natal mechanical engineering students have successfully launched a hybrid rocket, the first of its kind that has put the institution at the cutting-edge of technology.
The launch of the Phoenix-1A rocket at the Denel Overberg test range in the Western Cape last week was the result of four years of work.
The Phoenix is unique because its fuel is solid and its oxidiser is a liquid. These two are kept separate until combustion occurs in the motor chamber. This greatly enhanced the rocket’s safety and handling aspects, the students said yesterday when they announced the successful blast-off for the first time.
The rocket is sub-orbital which means it will not go into space.
Project founder Michael Brooks, UKZN’s mechanical engineering lecturer, said: “We were pleased with the launch campaign and we met our objectives”. The launch was complicated, as unlike normal rockets that are normally fuelled away from the site, the hybrid rocket had to be fuelled on the site of the launch, he said.
Brooks, the head of the Aerospace Systems Research Group, said they were also able to get more information about the flight dynamics of the rocket. This would help in future launches and cost savings.
Project member Kirsty Veale said it took two days to get the rocket to Cape Agulhas because they had to tow it there. The Phoenix took off from a mobile launch platform. It fell at the launch site.
She said: “We met most of our design objectives, and the information gained from this launch will lead us to improved designs.”
Bernard Genevieve, one of the chief designers for the rocket who joined the project as part of his masters project, said he was excited that the launch had gone successfully.
He said “we were all nervous and checking, double-checking and triple-checking if everything was in order. You could feel the pressure”.
He said he hoped the project would serve as an inspiration for students who did mechanical engineering.
Daily News