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News Article: Naro space rocket getting ready for second launch, April 12, 2010 News Article on KIAST published on April 12, 2010 The Korea Herald, 2010-04-12 17:07 Naro space rocket getting ready for second launch By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com) The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is checking on the second launch of Naro, Korea’s first space rocket, as all the necessary parts were transferred to the launch center last week. The Science Technology Satellite No. 2 was transferred last Thursday from the KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center in Daejeon to the Naro Space Center in South Jeolla Province, said ministry officials. The solid-fuel second-stage rocket reached the center last Monday and the liquid-fuel first-stage rocket did so on March 23. The latter was manufactured in Russia’s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center. The satellite, a small one weighing 100 kilograms, was co-developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, KAIST SaTReC and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. It is to revolve around the Earth for two years collecting data on climate change by gauging the hydrogen content in the atmosphere, said officials. “With all the crucial parts ready here in the center, we have officially kicked off our final investigation before setting the details of the second Naro launch,” said a ministry official. Second Vice Minister Kim Joong-hyun last week visited the Naro center to attend the overall inspection on all facilities related to the rocket launch. The date has not yet been set for the second launch but will be fixed within this month, said officials. With the general inspection completed on the facilities, the first-stage rocket and the satellite will be assembled and the combination will be joined by the second-stage rocket in May. The first launching attempt ended in failure in August due to faulty electrical wiring or a mechanical problem in the fairing separation mechanism, according to panels. The two fairings -- used to cover and protect the satellite placed on top of the Naro -- failed to separate timely and thus stopped the satellite from gaining sufficient velocity to reach its planned orbit. Korea has so far spent 502.4 billion won ($428.1 million) on the Naro project since it began in August 2002.
2010.04.13 View 20787