We conduct applied research in rocket propulsion and associated technologies such as thermal management and launch systems.
Our aim is to develop a series of flight vehicles leading to the deployment of a 100 km apogee sounding rocket for use by the African physics community.
There are two main projects in ASRI which are currently active: HSRP and SAFFIRE.
The campaign was run over several weeks at the Denel Overberg Test Range in the Western Cape and resulted in the student-driven team breaking the African hybrid rocket altitude record.
The Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) is located within the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Engineering. ASRI was formed in 2009 as a research group (ASReG) by Prof Jean Pitot and Prof Michael Brooks. We are now an Institute focused on the design, manufacture and testing of rocket propulsion systems. Our research engineers conduct work on aerospace and related projects for our funders and clients, and we also supervise graduate students enrolled in UKZN’s Masters and Doctoral research programmes.