Seoul readies rocket to join China, Japan in space club

South Korea hopes to launch a satellite into space on Friday in its third attempt to join an elite club that includes Asian powers China, Japan and India.

After two previous failures in 2009 and 2010, the 140-tonne Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-I) will, weather permitting, blast off from the Naro Space Centre on the south coast.

Success will mean a huge boost for South Korea – a late entrant into the high-cost world of space technology and exploration that is desperate to get its commercial launch programme up and running.

Seoul’s space ambitions were restricted for many years by its main military ally the United States, which feared that a robust missile or rocket programme would accelerate a regional arms race, especially with North Korea.

South Korea’s space budget for this year is around US$200 million, according to the Science Ministry – a paltry sum compared to the billions being pumped in by the governments in Beijing, Tokyo and New Delhi.

In a recent paper for the Council on Foreign Relations, James Moltz, a professor at the US Naval Postgraduate School, said South Korea had little option but to pursue an expensive catch-up strategy.