TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – National Cheng Kung University launched a rocket up to an altitude of 761 meters from the Hsuhai Rocket Research Launch Site in Pingtung on Saturday.

The flight of the AfterLight 1 only lasted one minute, but the data will be analyzed to the benefit of future ventures, per CNA. The rocket was a project of the Fuel and Combustion Laboratory at the university’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Taiwan Space Agency said the launch at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday marked the first time that the laboratory had worked with the university’s Institute of Space Propulsion and the agency to develop a rocket for scientific research. The project was launched in 2024 and employed a team of about 30 students.

The AfterLight 1 measured 210 centimeters and could carry a load of 4 kilograms up to an altitude of 1,000 m. In addition to providing information about the rocket’s speed and height, Saturday’s event also helped to improve the coordination and engineering aspects of the team, even though an attempt to deploy a parachute in order to recover and recycle the nose of the rocket failed.

The Hsuhai site set up by the National Science and Technology Council had already hosted the launch of 11 research rockets built by universities in Taiwan.