South Korea is launches of first rocket and headed for orbit to Launch Vehicle. One was launched from the Nero Space Center on the southern coast and first rocket has blasted off into space Tuesday following an aborted attempt last week and just months after its rival North Korea drew international ire for its own launch. The launch of the two-stage Nero rocket could boost the country's space ambition but the North warned it would keep a close eye on the international response to Seoul's launch. The rocket, built with Russian help, was carrying a domestically built satellite aimed at observing the atmosphere and ocean. The Korean officials hope the rocket will boost the country's aim to become a regional space power, along with China, Japan and India. North Korea, however, has warned it would "closely watch" how the U.S. and other neighboring countries respond to the South's launch. Ocket it said was mounted with a satellite. The U.S., Japan and other nations condemned the launch as a test of ballistic missile technology since the same rocket can be mounted with a warhead.
A series of delays kept the rocket and its satellite payload earthbound, including a technical glitch that halted Wednesday's countdown less than eight minutes before blastoff. This U.N. Security Council subsequently slapped Pyongyang with sanctions, calling the launch a violation of resolutions banning it from conducting missile-related activity. In recent weeks, the North has significantly softened its stance toward the South, freeing a South Korean worker held there for more than four months, agreeing to lift restrictions on border crossings and pledging to resume joint projects and the reunion of families separated during the Korean War.
South Korea's first launch of a rocket from its own territory. Since 1992, it has launched 11 satellites, all on foreign-made rockets sent from overseas sites.
No comments:
Post a Comment