President Cheers Rocket Scientists
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak encouraged the scientists involved in the development of space rockets, Friday, saying Korea learned a hard lesson from the failure on Wednesday to put a satellite into orbit through the country's first space rocket, KSLV-1.
"Great success always comes after failure," Lee said during a visit to the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, where the rocket was launched.
"We should overcome frustration and disappointment to move forward and challenge again next year. The first thing you must do is to fix errors and ensure that they never take place again."
The President called the KSLV-1 project a "half success," saying the lesson scientists learned will be crucial in upgrading Korea's space technology.
He also thanked Russia for being Korea's rocket development partner, the presidential office said.
The center reported to President Lee Korea's future course of action to become a space powerhouse and requested full-fledged support from the government, it added.
Data showed the second-stage rocket blasted off successfully, but failed to put a satellite into designated orbit as nose fairings, a cone which covers and protects the satellite from heat and wind, did not separate properly. The satellite was presumed to have burnt up in the atmosphere.
Lee's visit to the space center came amid a controversy over where the buck should stop between Korea and Russia for the failure.
Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center developed the KSLV-1 first stage, which contains the liquid-fuel propulsion system. The upper stage of the rocket - powered by solid fuel and designed to carry the satellite - was developed by Korean firms.
Korea plans to try again in May next year to send a satellite into space on a rocket.
If the project succeeds, work will start on the construction of the more powerful rocket that could be launched around 2018. Then Korea will try to send an unmanned probe into the Moon's orbit in 2020 and build a lunar lander five years later.