The fifth prototype of China's home-built C919 narrowbody passenger jet completed its first test flight on Thursday, bringing Comac’s flight-test campaign on track for 2019. Coded 105, the prototype is the second-to-last of six test aircraft scheduled to participate in flight trials by the end of this year.

Prototype 105 took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 10 a.m. local time and remained airborne for 1 hour and 37 minutes before returning safely to its base. The manufacturer said the prototype’s flight-test campaign will focus on extreme meteorological trials, including cold and hot weather tests. Engineering teams will also carry out testing on the C919’s drainage system, electrical supply, and other related testbed items. Four additional prototypes continue to undergo intensive flight, static, and other ground verification tests in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, Nanchang in Jiangxi province, and Shandong’s Dongying.

In a separate development, Comac has extended its partnership with Australia’s Monash University after inking a $6.8 million agreement on Wednesday to establish a research and development center at Clayton’s Monash Technology Precinct, in Melbourne's southeast. The deal, witnessed by the Australian state of Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, during his Beijing trip, follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in May 2017 and is aimed at strengthening collaboration on the design of 3D printed alloy components for the C919. According to the Chinese airframer, engineering teams have adopted additive manufacturing in the development of some cabin doors.

The new deal comes after U.S. cybersecurity technology company CrowdStrike alleged in a report last week that Beijing had coordinated an elaborate cyber espionage campaign against several foreign aviation firms that supply Comac’s C919 components. Comac chief technology officer Yang Zhigang denied the claims in an interview earlier this week with the South China Post, adding that escalating friction between the U.S. and China could see American suppliers restricted from doing business with Comac.

Monash’s extended partnership with the Chinese airframer prompted concerns from Australian education minister Dan Tehan, who said the government expects Australian universities to act "lawfully and ethically."

"Our Government established a foreign interference task force to create best practice guidelines for universities to ensure collaboration with foreign entities are transparent, and in a manner that avoids harm to Australia’s interests,” he said in a statement to AIN.

In a government statement released Thursday, minister for jobs, innovation, and trade Martin Pakula said Australia’s "trusting relationship with China" would open new trade opportunities between the two countries and boost employment across Victoria.