UKZN engineers launch new suborbital sounding rocket launch facility

The count down begins as engineers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) have commissioned a new suborbital sounding rocket launch facility at the Denel Overberg Test Range (OTR) in the Western Cape.

The facility was funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and is a first for South Africa in terms of its capabilities.

It also represents the first significant piece of space launch infrastructure built since the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, said director of ASRI at UKZN, Professor Michael Brooks.

“Unlike orbital launch vehicles that can steer themselves, suborbital rockets are unguided and must therefore be launched off a gantry that can be accurately aimed. This is dependent on the required flight trajectory, mission requirements and safety risks,” said Professor Brooks.

“The new launch gantry has a state-of-the-art aiming and control system to allow the boom to rotate through 360 degrees in the horizontal plane, while also enabling elevation up to the vertical position. This permits pin-point aiming accuracy in any direction and fast adjustment to account for factors like changes in wind direction on launch days.”

Standing as tall as a six-storey building when vertical, the boom can be lowered into the horizontal position during loading of the rocket on to the rail as well as for fitting of ground support systems to enable fuelling and launch of the vehicle, Professor Brooks added.

During the commissioning exercise, UKZN engineers put the gantry through its paces alongside a team from TF Design, the company that built the platform to ASRI’s specification.

“A successful cold-flow propellant test was also run using a Phoenix hybrid rocket loaded on the launch rail to assess performance of ASRI’s launch control software. This was to ensure that communication between the control room and the rocket was possible once on the new structure.

“The gantry will be used to launch suborbital rockets built by ASRI, such as Phoenix. It can also accommodate much larger solid-propellant vehicles of the type operated by NASA’s Sounding Rocket Programme and the European Space Agency (ESA),” Professor Brooks said.

Suborbital rockets are smaller than satellite launch vehicles and typically fly into the high atmosphere even into space. They do follow a ballistic trajectory and return to Earth after completing their mission rather than going into orbit.

Professor Brooks said they are used to flight-test aerospace technologies as well as to conduct scientific research in the high atmosphere above 80km, in a region that is too high for balloons and often too low for satellites.

Some even travel hundreds of kilometres into space on their missions before returning to Earth.

Their payloads may include sensors to measure the Earth’s magnetic field, sun strength, atmospheric radiation levels and chemical composition. The vehicles can also be used to test out new materials, communication equipment and propulsion systems, added Professor Brooks.

“Sounding rockets are a critical step in developing an orbital satellite launch capability but to date, South Africa has had no access to such rockets. We don’t have a permanent facility from which to launch them. ASRI’s work addresses both of these shortcomings,” said Professor Brooks.

“The institute’s Space Propulsion Programme develops propulsion systems for rockets and satellites, as well as testing and manufacturing facilities to enable sovereign access to space for South Africa.”

With the commissioning of the new equipment, UKZN becomes the first and only university in South Africa to operate a permanent suborbital rocket launch gantry. The facility will further strengthen ASRI’s capacity for cutting edge aerospace research and provide a unique training environment for the world-class engineers it produces, said Professor Brooks.