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First South Korean Space Rocket To Launch In 2008
Seoul (AFP) Jan 02, 2007 South Korea plans to launch its first space rocket next year, becoming the world's ninth country to do so, officials said Tuesday. A space centre on the country's south coast is some 90 percent complete after construction began in late 2000 at a cost of 265 billion won (285 million dollars). The rocket, named Korea Space Launch Vehicle, will put a small satellite weighing 100 kilograms (220 pounds) into orbit for scientific research and atmospheric surveys. "This means that we'll have our own satellites and launch vehicles at the same time, laying the foundation for further space development," Hwang Pan-Sik, a deputy director of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told AFP. South Korea began developing the two-stage rocket through a technology tie-up with Russia in 2004. The first stage is based on Russia's Angara rocket while the second stage is of South Korean origin, Hwang said. Between this year and 2010, South Korea plans to build or launch a total of nine satellites. The nation last month also selected two finalists who will compete to become the country's first astronaut. They will be sent to Russia this year for intensive training. One of them will travel on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station in April 2008.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
Scientists Support Russian Researcher Suspected Of Revealing Secrets Novosibirsk (RIA Novosti) Dec 29, 2006 Colleagues of a Russian scientist accused of disclosing state secrets are convinced of his innocence, the director of a Siberian-based research institute said Thursday. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched an investigation against Oleg Korobeinichev, the head of the combustion kinetics laboratory at the Novosibirsk Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion, who is suspected of revealing sensitive information on components of a rocket propellant in one of his scientific papers prepared for a U.S. research center. |
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