South Korea Sets Launch of KSLV-1 Aug. 11

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) will be the first spacecraft to be launched from the Naro Space Center, the country's brand new spaceport at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, now set for Tuesday, August 11th (August 10 USA).

The over $400-milion KSLV-1 had been scehduled for a July 30 launch of the 33.5-meter, 140-ton vehicle set to carry an experimental satellite, the 100-kilogram "Science and Technology Satellite No. 2," jointly designed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). The Khrunichev Center developed the 25.8-meter long lower assembly that contains the propulsion system. Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country's space agency, designed the solid-fuel upper portion of the rocket, which will seat the satellite.

Seoul has set aside a launch window from Aug. 11-18. South Korea will inform the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, so ships and planes in the path of the rocket can be warned in advance.