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The South Korean rocket Naro-1 takes off - Source: Reuters
South Korea's first space rocket has blasted off.
It's carrying a scientific satellite in a launch likely to
provide a major boost to its nascent space programme after relying
on others to put its satellites in orbit.
The two-stage Naro-1 rocket measuring 33 metre long with a 100-kg
payload lifted off from the country's space centre on its southern
coast about 350 km from Seoul.
The launch is expected to rile prickly North Korea, which was
hit by United Nations sanctions after it fired off a long-range
rocket in April in what was widely seen as a disguised missile
test.
Pyongyang, which chastised the world body for the punishment, said
earlier this month it was paying close attention to the South's
rocket and how the world would react to it.
The launch came on the second attempt after the scheduled lift-off on August 19 was aborted because of a glitch with pressure gauge software.
Fuel had been removed after the halt, requiring several days to reschedule.
The satellite is designed to monitor the Earth's radiant energy.
South Korea wants to build a rocket on its own by 2018 and send a probe to monitor the moon by 2025. It also wants to develop a commercial service to launch satellites.
But its space programme lags far behind Japan, China, India, and to some extent North Korea.
