South Korea will make another bid at the end of this month to put a satellite in orbit and gain entry to an elite global space club that includes Asian powers China, India and Japan.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced on Wednesday a January 30-February 8 window for launching the 140-tonne Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) from the Naro Space Centre on the south coast.
“By the end of this week, the first and second stages will be connected and next week, rehearsals will take place,” a ministry official said.
Following failed attempts in 2009 and 2010, a successful launch is considered crucial to South Korea’s commercial space ambitions.
The current attempt has already been postponed twice for technical reasons after launch dates were set in October and then November.
The KSLV-1 has a first stage manufactured by Russia, with a solid-fuel second stage built in South Korea.
In 2009, the carrier achieved orbit, but faulty release mechanisms on its second stage prevented proper deployment of the satellite.