Space travel
South Korea launches first self-made space rocket
A test version of South Korea’s self-developed space rocket “Nuri” is on the launch pad in the Naro Space Center, 473 kilometers south of Seoul. Photo: Uncredited / KOREA POOL / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
South Korea is also entering space travel. For the first time, a self-made launcher was tested. In the future, communication satellites and lunar probes are to be brought into orbit, among other things.
South Korea tested a self-made launcher for the first time on Thursday. The rocket was launched at 5:00 p.m. local time (10:00 a.m. CEST) from the Naro Space Center near the southern coastal town of Goheung. South Korean television stations broadcast the start live.
The rocket weighing 200 tons, which is supposed to bring a dummy satellite into orbit, is of the so-called “KSLV-II” type. If the mission is successful, it would be the first space rocket entirely developed and built in South Korea.
The government in Seoul plans to launch communications satellites and lunar probes, among other things, as part of its space program in the coming years.
The rocket launch was originally scheduled an hour earlier, but according to the Ministry of Science there were delays in the inspection of the valves on the missile.