SEOUL, Oct. 21 (BNA): South Korea Thursday conducted its first-ever test of a home-made space rocket, but admitted it was unsuccessful in its main mission of putting a mock satellite into orbit.
The rocket lifted off at 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) from the Naro Space Center near the southern coastal town of Gohyeong. South Korean television stations broadcast the launch live.
The 200-ton KSLV-II missile is the first launch vehicle to be developed and manufactured entirely in South Korea, but it did not perform as well as expected.
President Moon Jae-in, who watched the launch at the space center, said afterwards that although the rocket had completed all flight sequences, “we did not fully achieve our goal.”
He said the missile failed to put an imaginary satellite into orbit. Another test is scheduled for May 19 next year.
The government in Seoul plans to launch communications satellites and a lunar probe, among others, as part of its space program in the coming years.
The launch date of the rocket was set an hour earlier, but according to the Ministry of Science, there was a delay in checking the fuses on the rocket.
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