THE University of KwaZulu-Natal will officially launch the Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) with a series of events from Monday, April 29 to Friday, May 3.
ASRI is located in UKZN’s Discipline of Mechanical Engineering and was formally established by the university’s council in 2022.
Before ASRI, the Aerospace Systems Research Group (ASReG) was established in 2009 to conduct applied research in aerospace engineering and to develop highly skilled engineers for the South African economy.
“ASRI now runs one of the largest university-based aerospace research programmes in South Africa and focuses on the design, development and testing of aerospace propulsion and flight systems, including rocket engines, turbopumps and turbomachinery, suborbital and orbital (space) launch vehicles and novel propellants,” the university said.
Since 2009, UKZN engineers have built and tested numerous research rocket motors and flown several suborbital rockets, it said.
“Notable technical achievements include the establishment of a new African altitude record for suborbital hybrid rockets, the development and testing of the most powerful university-built liquid rocket engine on the African continent and the development of unique ground test facilities for hybrid and liquid (cryogenic) rocket propulsion systems,” it added.
UKZN said all these activities are aligned with ASRI’s driving aim to develop an indigenous, commercial space launch capability for South Africa.
ASRI UKZN director Professor Michael Brooks will hold a public lecture on Monday titled “Forging an African Space Launch Capability – the Story of the Aerospace Systems Research Institute.”
“For 15 years UKZN engineers have been researching the machines that fly higher and faster than any other, but what does it really take to design, build and fly rockets? In this lecture, we introduce the Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) to the UKZN community and explain how our engineers go about their work.”
The institute receives support for its research from the Department of Science and Innovation.
The Mercury