S. Korea satellite launch delay
Source: Agencies |
June 10, 2010, Thursday
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SOUTH Korea's planned launch of a space satellite was delayed yesterday due to a technical glitch and was likely to be postponed to another day, a government official said.
The two-stage Naro rocket was supposed to blast off carrying an observation satellite to study global warming and climate change.
The process was halted due to the malfunction of fire safety facilities at the launch pad, Science Ministry spokesman Pyun Kyung-bum said. South Korean and Russian experts were trying to find the cause of the problem and planned to consult on a new launch date, he said.
"We expect that it will be difficult to launch today," he said.
The first stage of the two-stage rocket was designed and built by Russia and the second by South Korea.
The snag came after officials had announced that launch preparations were complete and that the rocket would lift off at 5pm.
The planned liftoff at the coastal Naro space center in Goheung, about 470 kilometers south of Seoul, would have been the country's second launch of a rocket from its own territory in less than a year.
In the first attempt last August, the satellite failed to go into orbit because one of its two covers apparently failed to come off after liftoff. Since 1992, South Korea has launched 11 satellites from overseas sites.
The launch preparations came amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula after South Korea referred North Korea to the UN Security Council over the sinking of a navy ship that killed 46 South Korean sailors.
North Korea - which denies involvement in the sinking - has threatened to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the UN body, saying South Korea's action will intensify military tension and could trigger a war on the divided peninsula.
There was no immediate North Korean reaction to the planned liftoff from South Korea. Last year North Korea warned it would closely watch the international response to South Korea's launch after a North Korean launch drew a UN rebuke.
North Korea has developed a variety of missiles and launched a long-range rocket from a domestic launch site in April last year in defiance of international warnings.
North Korea said the rocket carried a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space development program, but the US and its allies said nothing reached space and the launch was actually a test of the country's missile technology.
North Korea, unlike South Korea, is banned from any ballistic activity by UN Security Council resolutions as part of efforts to eliminate its nuclear and long-range missile programs.
The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
The Science Ministry said South Korea plans to develop a space launch vehicle with its own technology by 2020.
The two-stage Naro rocket was supposed to blast off carrying an observation satellite to study global warming and climate change.
The process was halted due to the malfunction of fire safety facilities at the launch pad, Science Ministry spokesman Pyun Kyung-bum said. South Korean and Russian experts were trying to find the cause of the problem and planned to consult on a new launch date, he said.
"We expect that it will be difficult to launch today," he said.
The first stage of the two-stage rocket was designed and built by Russia and the second by South Korea.
The snag came after officials had announced that launch preparations were complete and that the rocket would lift off at 5pm.
The planned liftoff at the coastal Naro space center in Goheung, about 470 kilometers south of Seoul, would have been the country's second launch of a rocket from its own territory in less than a year.
In the first attempt last August, the satellite failed to go into orbit because one of its two covers apparently failed to come off after liftoff. Since 1992, South Korea has launched 11 satellites from overseas sites.
The launch preparations came amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula after South Korea referred North Korea to the UN Security Council over the sinking of a navy ship that killed 46 South Korean sailors.
North Korea - which denies involvement in the sinking - has threatened to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the UN body, saying South Korea's action will intensify military tension and could trigger a war on the divided peninsula.
There was no immediate North Korean reaction to the planned liftoff from South Korea. Last year North Korea warned it would closely watch the international response to South Korea's launch after a North Korean launch drew a UN rebuke.
North Korea has developed a variety of missiles and launched a long-range rocket from a domestic launch site in April last year in defiance of international warnings.
North Korea said the rocket carried a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space development program, but the US and its allies said nothing reached space and the launch was actually a test of the country's missile technology.
North Korea, unlike South Korea, is banned from any ballistic activity by UN Security Council resolutions as part of efforts to eliminate its nuclear and long-range missile programs.
The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
The Science Ministry said South Korea plans to develop a space launch vehicle with its own technology by 2020.
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