South Korea yesterday successfully conducted a rocket engine test launch, news reports said, paving the way for the development of its own space launch vehicle.
A liquid-fuel engine successfully propelled a single-stage rocket weighing 52 tonnes and 25.8m long, from the Naro Space Center on the southern coast, Yonhap news agency said.
The engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) as part of a US$1.8 billion project, is to be used to propel the country’s first indigenous three-stage launch vehicle — the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2).
Photo: EPA-EFE
“This is a significant step forward in developing a launch vehicle with our own technology,” a KARI spokesman said.
It is the first such launch in South Korea since 2013, when the country put a small satellite into orbit following failures in 2009 and 2010.
However, the significance of the 2013 launch was widely discounted as the launch vehicle had to rely on a Russia-developed engine for its first stage.
On its launch — scheduled for 2021 — KSLV-2 will use five of the engines, a bundle of four for the first stage and another one for the second stage.
Yesterday’s test was deemed successful as the engine combustion was maintained for more than 140 seconds during the launch, Yonhap said.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS