TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The test launch of Taiwan’s first indigenously designed double-stage autonomous sounding rocket will take place Saturday morning (July 9) in Pingtung County after a first attempt was canceled due to poor weather.

The HTTP-3A had been scheduled to launch from the Hsuhai site in the township of Mudan on May 3, but strong winds led to a cancellation of the event. Following two months of study, the Advanced Rocket Research Center at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University decided to go ahead with a launch for this Saturday at 6 a.m., Liberty Times reported.

If the launch is successful, the event would amount to a global first for a double-stage hybrid-propellant autonomous sounding rocket and a significant step for Taiwan’s satellite sector, officials said.

The HTTP-3A is expected to fly for 8 minutes and reach an altitude of 12 kilometers before deploying a parachute to reduce its speed and falling into the ocean 490 seconds after launch.

The sounding rocket, which was designed to carry scientific instruments, was named after the four cities and counties where universities participating in the project were based, namely Hsinchu, Taipei, Tainan, and Pingtung.