South Korea will test launch its first indigenously made rocket, the three-stage KSLV-II NURI, at 07.00 GMT, from the Naro Space Centre about 500 km south from the capital Seoul. The NURI rocket weighing 200 tonnes, is made to carry a 1.5 tonne payload at a height of 600-800 km above the earth, built at the cost of 2 trillion won or $1.6 billion. The project is being overseen by KARI (Korean Aerospace Research Institute).
The launch inaugurates South Korea’s foray into space programmes. Its regional neighbours Japan, China, and India all have their own advanced space programs. It has insisted that the NURI rocket does not have any weapon capabilities.
However, military uses are part of the aims of the South Korean space program in the future, along with plans to make a lunar landing in 2030 and launching surveillance and navigation satellites.
Speaking to Chosun Biz, Lee Sang-ryul, the director of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said that rockets were the basic vehicles by which humanity could reach space, and said that “Having such technology means we have fulfilled basic requirements to join this space exploration competition”
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