The KSLV-2 Nuri missile, a three-stage rocket decorated with the South Korean flag, was placed on its launch pad at the Naro Space Center ahead of the scheduled launch at 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) carrying a mock satellite..
The missile (Nuri), which means “world”, is designed to put a 1.5-tonne payload into orbit at an altitude of between 600 km and 800 km above Earth. South Korea’s future plans are to launch observation, navigation and communications satellites as well as moon probes.
The 200-ton rocket, which is supervised by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, was transported to its launch pad on Wednesday.
“All preparations have been made,” the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement“.
And missile launches are a sensitive issue on the Korean peninsula, where North Korea faces sanctions over its nuclear-armed ballistic missile programme.
South Korea’s plans call for launching a range of military satellites in the future, but officials deny that the Nouri missile has any uses as a weapon in itself..
South Korea launched a similar missile in 2013 jointly developed with Russia, after several delays and a few failed tests..
Officials told Reuters that having a special launch vehicle would give South Korea flexibility to determine the types of payloads and launch schedules, as well as protect “secret” payloads such as spy satellites.
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