PINGTUNG, Taiwan – The second Taiwan Cup Rocket Competition concluded Sunday at the Syuhai research rocket launch site in Mudan Township. From 71 teams and 859 applicants, 21 finalists reached the launch stage after eight months of training, testing and safety reviews.
Under the summer sun, the teams prepared their rockets, checked their systems and waited for clearance to fly. Each launch was the result of months spent designing airframes, integrating electronics, programming flight controls and solving the countless small problems that can decide whether a rocket leaves the ground.
Local students delivered some of the event’s strongest performances. The RBS team from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology Experimental Senior High School returned for its second year with a more advanced rocket and successfully completed its mission, earning cheers from the crowd.
Another team from the school, “NEHSP Launches the Rocket,” won the student 1-kilogram division and secured Pingtung’s first championship at the competition. Its rocket carried the visual identity of the 2027 National Games, which Pingtung will host, sending the event’s “Road to Victory” design into the sky a year before the athletes arrive.
“Interstellar Singularity” won the student 3-kilogram division, while “Arrow of the King” took the open 3-kilogram title.
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and Pingtung County Magistrate Chou Chun-mi watched the launches and presented awards to the winning teams. Officials see the competition as an early step toward building the engineers Taiwan will need as it expands its space industry.
For Pingtung, the rockets also represent a larger opportunity. The county hopes to combine aerospace research with science education, stargazing, exhibitions and tourism across the Hengchun Peninsula, turning Taiwan’s southern edge into an important base for the country’s growing space ambitions.
