“Cagayan is both geographically and economically primed to serve as our gateway to space and host the country's first spaceport," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared in his fifth State of the Nation Address.
The announcement brought national attention to an effort led by the Philippine Space Agency that had been underway well before the SONA. By the time Marcos addressed the nation, Filipino engineers had trained in rocket development in South Korea, PhilSA had entered into agreements for experimental launches in the Philippines, and Lal-lo in Cagayan had emerged as the site for a planned rocket launch in 2027 and a potential spaceport.
"A sounding rocket launch test is slated for next year. Yes we are going to launch a rocket into space!" Marcos said.
A sounding rocket is a relatively small research vehicle designed to carry scientific instruments into the upper atmosphere or space before returning to Earth. Unlike an orbital rocket, it is not intended to place satellites into orbit.
Indigenous launch capability
Launching such a rocket from Philippine territory requires capabilities beyond the rocket itself, including propulsion technology, ground infrastructure, launch operations, safety procedures and regulation. PhilSA has been developing these capabilities in stages as part of its longer-term goal of establishing an indigenous launch capability.
On May 12, 2023 PhilSA with students and mentors from St. Cecilia's College-Cebu under a DOST-PCIEERD program and the Philippine Air Force successfully launched “Tala” from the Crow Valley Gunnery Range in Capas, Tarlac was described it as the first high-power hybrid rocket developed in the country. It carried a CanSat payload, reached the atmosphere and returned by parachute.
Tala is a 10-foot, 15-kilogram hybrid rocket using solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer, with a target altitude of about 5 kilometers. The planned 2027 Cagayan mission is a much more ambitious liquid-fueled sounding rocket project intended to fly farther and support the development of domestic launch operations in the proposed North Luzon spaceport.
In March, PhilSA announced an agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Ascend International Gateway and South Korea's Perigee Aerospace to establish a framework for rocket development training and experimental launches in the Philippines.
The following month The Manila Times spoke with lawyer Noelle Riza D. Castillo, director of PhilSA's Space Policy and International Cooperation Bureau. She revealed some details on the agency's work the country's first rocket launch. Plans were to be finalized and publicly presented at the Philippine Space Week in August.
The partnership with has completed its technical training phase. In October 2025, PhilSA engineers began a small launch vehicle program with Perigee through a workshop in Quezon City, followed by three weeks of hands-on training in South Korea. Filipino engineers worked with Perigee's Blue Whale 0.1 liquid-propellant sounding rocket, studying rocket theory, subsystem assembly and testing.
Facing the Pacific Ocean
Cagayan's geography is central to the plan. Lal-lo provides access to the Pacific Ocean, allowing potential launch and recovery operations over open water, as well as existing infrastructure that could support initial activities. The Philippines' proximity to the equator could also offer advantages for some future launch missions by allowing rockets to take greater advantage of the Earth's rotational speed.
The plan became more concrete in June following the ninth meeting of the Philippine Space Council, chaired by Marcos. PhilSA announced that the country's first liquid-fueled rocket launch from Philippine territory was targeted for early 2027 in Lal-lo.
The mission would test more than the rocket. Conducting a launch from Philippine territory will require coordination among aviation, maritime, security and regulatory authorities, as well as procedures for handling propellants, securing the launch area and managing risks to communities, aircraft and maritime traffic.
Establishing a spaceport would require further development of ground facilities, tracking and communications systems, safety infrastructure, logistics and regulatory mechanisms. Engineering studies, environmental assessments, financing and additional infrastructure would also be needed before regular launch operations could begin.
PhilSA sees the effort as part of a broader space ecosystem that could support advanced manufacturing, aerospace engineering, electronics, software development, scientific research and specialized technical services. Universities and research institutions could also gain access to rocket missions for atmospheric research and technology experiments.
