South Korean Rocket Will Launch Again in June

South Korean Rocket Will Launch Again in June
The KSLV's first launch in August 2009 fell short of orbit. (Image credit: KARI)

South Korea plans another flight of its small satellitelauncher in June, nearly a year after the rocket's first mission was doomedwhen its payload shroud did not separate, according to the rocket's Russiancontractor.

The first stage of the Korea Space Launch Vehicleis about to be shipped from Russia to South Korea, the program's Russianindustrial partner said in a statement Wednesday.

Khrunichev's written statement said liftoff of the secondKSLV, or Naro, rocket is scheduled for some time in June.

For KSLV missions, Khrunichev swapped the Angara's morepowerful engine for the smaller RD-151 unit.

According to Khrunichev, the Russian-made first stageperformed well during the KSLV'sinaugural flight last August, but the mission failed to reach orbit becausehalf of the rocket's nose cone failed to jettison.

The payload fairing was supposed to split open and separatelike a clamshell a few minutes after liftoff. The 108-foot-tall rocket wascarrying a small Earth observation and demonstration satellite for the KoreanAerospace Research Institute, South Korea's official space agency.

Officials said the Korean-made solid-fueled second stagealso worked as expected during last year's test flight.

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Spaceflightnow.com Editor

Stephen Clark is the Editor of Spaceflight Now, a web-based publication dedicated to covering rocket launches, human spaceflight and exploration. He joined the Spaceflight Now team in 2009 and previously wrote as a senior reporter with the Daily Texan. You can follow Stephen's latest project at SpaceflightNow.com and on Twitter.