Launch of 1st weather satellite rescheduled

By Park Si-soo
Staff reporter

A second launch attempt of the nation's first weather satellite is expected to take place early today, following yesterday's delay due to mechanical glitches, the state weather and aerospace agencies said Thursday.

"Pressure-related problems" were detected in the 780-ton rocket that will carry the satellite, "Chollian," into orbit the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said, and the countdown was stopped 47 minutes before liftoff from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou.

The satellite, which also has communication functions, is set to be launched at 6:41 a.m. (KST), today.

KARI said a faulty sensor array detected abnormal pressure in the second stage rocket, but the problem has been fixed after replacing the sensor.

The second stage makes up the upper part of the Ariane 5-ECA rocket built by France's Arianespace SA and is designed to place its satellite payload into Earth orbit.

Abnormal pressure was also detected in the lower part of the rocket, but Arianespace officials said the complication was minor and would not affect the general safety of the rocket.

The 2.5 ton satellite is designed to stay in a geostationary orbit and collect data on weather and oceanographic information over the Korean Peninsula around the clock, said the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). It can also act as a regular communications satellite.

So far, the KMA has received international weather information via American and Japanese satellites every 30 minutes, but the domestically produced observer will halve that time.

The multi-functional satellite has been jointly developed since 2003 with a budget of 354 billion won by the KMA, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs, and the Korea Communications Commission.

A successful launch will make South Korea the seventh country in the world to operate its own weather satellite. The KMA opened a command center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, in June 2008.

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