WE HAVE LIFT-OFF. ALMOST.

Phoenix fast facts

Length: 4.9 metres

Total mass: 88 kilograms

Burn time: 15 seconds

Peak thrust: 700 kilograms

Oxidiser mass: 34 kilograms (nitrous oxide)

Fuel mass: 7 kilograms (paraffin wax)

Altitude: Up to 20 kilometres

Maximum speed: Mach 2.2 (2 716 km/h)

Flight time: ±140 seconds

EACH CONTROLLER IS ASKED: ‘GO, OR NO GO?’ IT'S A GO.

here are few things as exciting as a rocket launch countdown. Even more so when it happens in our own backyard, at the top secret Denel Overberg Test Range (OTR) in the Western Cape.

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