Rocket Launch Delayed Until July

By Kim Tong-hyung

Staff Reporter

South Korean ambitions to put a satellite into orbit from its brand new spaceport have been delayed for technical reasons, government officials said Thursday.

With the help of Russian technology, the country had planned to launch the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) sometime during the second quarter, becoming the ninth country in the world to launch a home-made spacecraft from its own soil.

However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Thursday that the rocket launch will be delayed until late July, with performance tests at the launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, taking longer than previously anticipated.

``Engineers at the Naro Space Center asked for more time to check safety systems, and there is no reason for us to rush the launch,'' said Lee Sang-mok, an official from the ministry's technology policy bureau.

``To eliminate technical risk, the engineers have expanded the safety checkpoints from the previous 99 to 348. We intend to turn over every stone,'' he said.

This is the second time government authorities delayed the rocket launch, which was originally slated for late last year.

However, with the devastating earthquake that hit southwest China last August resulting in the late delivery of key parts, the launch was delayed to the first half of this year.

Korea has spent a total of 502.5 billion won (about $339 million) since 2002 to develop the KSLV-1, which is set to carry a small experimental satellite into space.

The 33-meter, 140-ton rocket was jointly built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

Ministry officials said the exact launch date will be decided about a month before the launch, after KARI engineers and their Russian counterparts are expected to complete the simulation tests with the ground test vehicle, or mock KSLV-1 rocket.

The lower assembly of KSLV-1, which contains the liquid-fueled propulsion system of the two-stage rocket, will be delivered from Russia sometime in June, ministry officials said.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr