By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Korean fighter jets are to fly in the vicinity of Naro Space Center Wednesday to ward off aircraft that could accidentally encroach on the airspace from where the country's first space vehicle is to be launched, Air Force officials said Tuesday.
A squadron of four F-15Ks and KF-16s will conduct a patrol mission for three hours ahead of the scheduled blast-off of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, they said.
The Navy, for its part, plans to deploy its 7,600-ton KDX-III Aegis destroyer to monitor and track the space launch.
On Tuesday, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute moved its rocket onto the launch pad at the center 485 kilometers south of Seoul. Wednesday's blast-off is set to take place at 4:40 p.m., but could be delayed by more than an hour depending on weather conditions.