Naro rocket launch to be delayed until part arrives

Korea’s plan to launch a space rocket will likely be delayed further, government officials said yesterday, as the Russian replacement for a defective part in the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is not expected to arrive here until the end of the week.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and its Launch Preparation Committee said earlier the launch of the KSLV-1 would take place before Nov. 24.

The replacement of the defective part, however, will likely arrive here on Saturday, ministry officials said. It will take two to three days to replace and test the new part with preparations for the actual launch expected to take up to another seven days.

Officials said there would not be any major problem launching the space rocket, also known as Naro, after the designated date. So long as the country informs related international organizations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, in advance.

“There is a growing voice that we must not hurry to meet the designated date as a successful launch is more important than anything else,” an official said, adding the launch will likely take place before the end of the month.
The country earlier planned to fire the Naro on Oct. 26 but the plan was pushed back after a broken rubber seal in the connector between the rocket and its launch pad was found only hours before the scheduled launch.
The problem was originally thought to be a minor issue but Russian engineers, who built the connector along with the rest of the first-stage rocket of the KSLV-1, later found the seal was damaged due to a gap between the seal and the connector’s steel component.
The launch will be Korea’s third attempt to launch a space rocket from its soil.

Yonhap