Russia, Korea agree on 3rd launch of Naro-1 rocket

SEOUL, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and South Korea have reached an
agreement to carry out the third launch of the Naro-1 rocket that is to
lift to a near-Earth orbit a research satellite with a mass of up to 100
kilograms, South Korean Minister of Education, Science and Technology
Ju-Ho Lee said on Monday in a joint exclusive interview with Itar-Tass and
the central South Korean newspaper Choongang Ilbo. It was the minister's
first meeting with foreign reporters since the moment of his taking office.
The joint project of the Itar-Tass news agency and Choongang Ilbo
newspaper is being implemented within the framework of the Korean-Russian
Dialogue, which is timed to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Russia and South Korea that is marked this
year, and RF President Dmitry Medvedev's forthcoming visit to Seoul.
Talking about the next launch of the Naro-1 rocket the minister
stressed that "we are interested in the speedy implementation of the third
attempt and now it is necessary to issue all the documents as quickly as
possible, in order to avoid any misunderstanding."
The first attempt to launch a research satellite with the help of the
Korean Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1 or Naro-1) with the Russian-made first
stage was unsuccessful because one of two 300-kg fairings failed to detach
from the second stage that was build by the Korean side. The two
countries' space experts are now trying to find out the causes of the
second explosion of the rocket. According to the Korean side, it happened
during the work of the first (that is Russian) stage. Russian officials
said that Russia's liquid engine worked normally.
The South Korean government officially approved the launch of the KSLV
in June 2009, which was expected to send the STSAT-2A satellite into
orbit. The launch, tentatively scheduled for 11 August, received approval
from the National Space Committee after experts reviewed all aspects of
the flight plan established by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research
Institute. South Korea notified the International Maritime Organisation
and the International Civil Aviation Organisation of the launch in order
to give notice to ships and planes operating in the region on the launch
date of the potential hazard.
The first attempt to launch Naro-1 was conducted on 19 August 2009,
but the launch was cancelled seven minutes 56 seconds before launch. The
second attempt on 25 August 2009 succeeded in taking off from the Naro
Space Centre. The Khrunichev-built first stage reportedly performed
nominally, and the second stage separation took place as expected, but the
payload fairing separation system malfunctioned and half of the satellite
protective cover stayed bolted to the second stage. The added weight of
the remaining fairing caused the rocket to tumble upwards and to be thrown
off its nominal course, soaring 20 kilometres (12 mi) above the planned
altitude before falling down. Currently, it is presumed that the payload
(STSAT-2) has re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated. Further
investigation is proceeding.
A second launch was scheduled for 9 June 2010, but the launch was
scrubbed due to a malfunction of a fire protection system. After the
problem was resolved, the launch was rescheduled for 10 June, and the
rocket launched at 08:01 UTC. The launch ended in failure 137 seconds (2
minutes 17 seconds) later, when contact with the rocket was lost. Ahn
Byung-man, Minister of Science and Technology, told reporters that the
rocket was believed to have exploded in midair. Thirteen engineering
experts from South Korea and thirteen from Russia formed a Failure Review
Board and met in August 2010 to discuss the launch. They were able to
officially conclude that the launch had failed. Further investigation was ongoing as to the cause of the failure.