코리아헤럴드

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province - South Korea yesterday celebrated the completion of its first space launch site in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, where the country`s first space rocket is slated to be launched in late July.

During his congratulatory speech at the Naro Space Center, President Lee Myung-bak expressed national hope to join the ranks of the world`s top-tier countries in space technology.

"Through constant investment and research, we will be able to open a space era by ourselves to become one of the world`s top seven space powerhouses within 10 years. The successful launch of the country`s first space rocket will be the turning point," said Lee.

"The global economy has recently been languishing and our economy is no exception. Although we are in a difficult situation, we should not give up our future."

With the completion of the Naro Space Center, Korea has become the world`s 13th nation equipped with rocket launching facilities.

Except the country`s first spaceport, there are 26 space centers in 12 countries, including the United Sates, Russia, China and Japan. The figure, however, does not count the launch pads North Korea and Iran claim to have.

The 5.11 million-square-meter space center houses a launch complex including a launch pad and an erector, a launcher control center, a flight safety center, an electro optical tracking system, a weather forecast center and educational facilities.

The country has spent 312.45 billion won ($250 million) on the construction of the space center. The construction project got underway in December 2000.

The state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute has been running final tests with the mock-ups (ground test vehicles) of Naro, or Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, which will carry a domestically-built experimental satellite into a low earth orbit next month.

Korea has been striving to become the 10th country in the world to launch a home-made satellite from its own soil. Iran became the ninth country in February by launching the Omid satellite on board its self-developed Safir-2 launch vehicle.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Japan, China, India, Israel and Iran succeeded in launching rockets from their own soil.

The possibility of a successful rocket launch is less than 30 percent, according to an official at the KARI. "Considering the cases abroad, the possibility of success is not that high. But we have spent enough time preparing for the launch, and we are confident that we will succeed," Park Jeong-joo, director of KSLV Systems Office at the KARI, told The Korea Herald.

The two-stage KSLV-1 rocket has been jointly developed by Russia`s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center and the KARI.

The liquid-fuel lower part of the rocket has been developed by the Khrunichev center. The solid-fuel upper part has been developed by the Korean institute.

The upper part will carry a 100-kilogram satellite, which has been developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. The satellite, named "Science and Technology Satellite 2," has a two-year lifespan.

The lower part will be delivered to Korea from Russia in the middle of this month and be assembled with the upper part and other components next month.

Korean Air, the country`s largest air carrier, will put together the two stages along with the satellite. Hyundai Heavy Industries has been responsible for construction of launch pads and other facilities at the spaceport.

KSLV-1 weighs 140 tons and measures 33.5 meters in length and 2.9 meters in diameter. It will have a thrust of 170 tons.

After the first launch scheduled in July, another rocket will be launched in April next year, according to a contract with the Russians. The Russians will also be responsible for a third launch if either of the first two launches fails.

The country plans to launch a 1.5-ton multi-purpose commercial satellite on a fully indigenous rocket, named KSLV-2, possibly in 2018.

The country also has a long-term space exploration program. It plans to develop a lunar orbiter by 2020 and a lunar probe by 2025.

For the KSLV-1 project, Korea has spent 502.4 billion won, about two fifths of which has gone to the Russian company. About 100 Russians along with some 130 Korean researchers are currently working at the spaceport.

(sshluck@heraldm.com)By Song Sang-ho