Naro Launch Delayed by Software Error
[Satellite TODAY 08-24-09] The launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (Naro), South Korea’s first rocket scheduled to launch a small experimental satellite into low-Earth orbit, has been delayed due to a software error, the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced.
The two-stage rocket was moved from the launch pad and back to the assembly complex to address the software issues, officials said.
Naro was originally scheduled to launch in 2005 and has been postponed six times prior to the most recent delay. Its payload, which is referred to as the Science and Technology Satellite 2, was jointly developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.
South Korea has spent $402 million on the project since it began in August 2002. The country plans to launch a 1.5-ton multipurpose commercial satellite on a fully indigenous rocket, KSLV-2, possibly in 2018.
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