Peru launches first homemade rocket

Peru successfully launched its first rocket built with 100 percent Peruvian technology with the capacity to reach the stratosphere, head of the National Aerospace Research and Development Commission (Conida) said Wednesday. Mario Pimentel Higueras said the "Paulet 1-B" rocket was launched Tuesday at the scientific base of Punta Lobos in Pucusana, south of the country's capital Lima. Conida's chief said the launching of the rocket showed Peru could reach a level of technological capability by 2020 that would make it feasible for the country to send satellites into orbit. Pimentel affirmed the manufacturing of Paulet 1-B was a milestone in Peru's aerospace industry, because it was the first time that a device built solely with Peruvian technology was launched into space. The Paulet 1-B aerospace project is the result of 20 years' work by Peruvian scientists, he said. The launching of the rocket was viewed by the president of the congressional Committee on Science, Innovation and Technology, representatives of the Peruvian scientific community, university officials and Peruvian Air Force commanders. Peru will improve this initial prototype so that it can in the next seven years develop a third-generation rocket that can travel as high as 300 kilometers into space, high enough to put a satellite into orbit.