The Philippines Plans to Launch a Liquid Sounding Rocket in Cagayan in 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) announced the latest progress of its liquid-fueled sounding rocket project. A team composed of 10 PhilSA personnel is receiving training in South Korea from August to October 2026 on liquid rocket development, assembly, and testing, in preparation for a test launch in Lal-lo, Cagayan Province, the Philippines, in 2027. This training is part of "SIKLAB: Industrial Space Launch System Construction Project," with South Korean space company Perigee Aerospace as the partner.

This mission uses the Blue Whale 0.1 liquid-propellant sounding rocket platform developed by Perigee Aerospace. The training covers complete rocket assembly, system integration, testing, launch operations, and mission preparation. The rocket assembled by the PhilSA team in South Korea will subsequently be transported to the Philippines, where testing will continue locally and the launch preparation phase will begin.

According to the current mission plan, the rocket will be launched in Lal-lo, Cagayan Province, and is planned to carry a payload of approximately 2 kilograms developed domestically in the Philippines, reaching an altitude of at least 5 kilometers. The payload is used to validate ground radio signal detection and monitoring technology, and will measure and record the strength of ground signals, including those from 4G LTE base stations, during flight.

Cagayan North International Airport will provide existing infrastructure for this mission, and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority is responsible for local site preparation and coordination with local governments and communities. The project team is also developing a launch safety exclusion zone plan; the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology and airport operator Ascend International Gateway will provide communications and logistics support.

The project's technical training previously carried out its first phase in 2025, and this round of training further expands to the complete operational cycle of a liquid rocket. PhilSA's cooperation with Perigee Aerospace began in 2022, and in March 2026 the two sides signed relevant arrangements for subsequent rocket launch cooperation. The Philippine government previously disclosed that the planned window for this test launch was between December 2026 and February 2027, while the latest official statement is that it will be carried out in 2027.