SPACE WIRE
South Korea postpones launching landmark liquid-fuel rocket
SEOUL (AFP) Nov 27, 2002
South Korea put off Wednesday's scheduled launch of its first three-stage rocket using liquid fuel because of bad weather, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said.

The 14-meter-long (46.2-feet) rocket weighing six tonnes was to have blasted off from a launch pad in Anheung in the central province of South Chungcheong.

But the launch was put off because wind velocity exceeded the permitted level of eight meters per second, KARI said. A storm alert has been raised around the Yellow Sea and the wind was blowing at speeds of 12-16 meters per second.

The country's first liquid-powered rocket has a thrust of 12.5 tonnes and was expected to have reached up to 42 kilometers (25.2 miles) with a maximum speed of 902 meters (2,976.6 feet) per second before falling into the Yellow Sea.

The KSR-III rocket means the country has secured the technology needed to develop a satellite-launching vehicle in 2005, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

The rocket project began in December 1997 with a total investment of 78 billion won (64 million dollars).

KARI and the ministry plan to develop a satellite launch vehicle capable of putting a 100-kilogramme (220-pound) payload into orbit by 2005 and a lower-orbit commercial satellite by 2010 with the aim of joining the world's top 10 aerospace powers by 2015.

SPACE.WIRE