Text Fwd: Space rocket to be launched as scheduled

Korea Times
Space rocket to be launched as scheduled
06-08-2010 10:27

The government decided Tuesday to go forward with the scheduled launch of its locally assembled space rocket after engineers corrected a problem in the electrical system.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said the Naro-1 rocket will be launched on Wednesday as planned since the problem with the ground measurement system (GMS) has been corrected.

The system allows rocket controllers to determine the state of the rocket before it blasts off into space.

"A rocket control committee headed by Vice Science Minister Kim Jung-hyun, which met earlier in the day, opted to move forward with the launch since the problem has been fixed," a ministry official said.

Engineers on Monday detected abnormal signals from the GMS while the rocket was being connected to the erector arm on the launch pad.

After dissembling and checking the connectors on the electrical system, South Korean engineers said they had corrected the problem.

KARI, meanwhile, said that it will move forward with final systems checks starting at 11 a.m. to see if the rocket is ready for launch. The final approval for the blastoff is expected to be made Wednesday.