Seoul: South Korea has rescheduled its first
space rocket launch from its soil to August 11 after
repeatedly postponing it due to technical reasons, officials
said on Saturday.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said
South Korea and Russia, a co-builder of the rocket, set the
new launch date after talks.
"Both sides have set August 11 for blast-off," Kim
Hong-Gab, a spokesman for the Korea Aerospace Research
Institute affiliated with the ministry," told AFP.
He added weather conditions on the day would be "a
decisive factor" to determine if the launch would go ahead as
scheduled.
The previously-scheduled launch for around July 30 was
postponed -- for a third time -- as Russians who had built the
first stage of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 called for
more time for testing.
Blast-off had already been delayed from late 2008 to late
June this year after China`s Sichuan earthquake last year
caused problems securing key parts.
South Korea plans to put a satellite weighing 100
kilograms into a low earth orbit with the planned launch from
the newly-built Naro Space Centre in Goheung, 475 kilometres
south of Seoul.
Bureau Report
