Korea''s first space rocket was positioned on the launch pad yesterday ahead of the eighth attempt to launch it tomorrow. Naro, or the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, was moved from the assembly complex to the launch pad earlier in the day after engineers fixed the software problems that caused the countdown halt less than eight minutes before blastoff last Wednesday.

Should there be no unforeseen problems with launch systems and the weather, the two-stage rocket, which will carry a 100-kilogram experimental satellite into a low-earth orbit, is set to liftoff at around 5 p.m. tomorrow, officials said.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology set the launch window, which extends to Wednesday.

Today, a final rehearsal for the blastoff at the Naro Space Center, the country''s first spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, will be carried out. Engineers will check all systems and facilities, including fueling systems, electrical equipment and ground facilities.

The automatic countdown will begin 15 minutes before liftoff. About 215 seconds after liftoff, the nose fairing, which covers and protects the satellite, is expected to be ejected from the rocket.

Some 232 seconds after blastoff, the first-stage rocket is to be separated from the second stage, which will ignite 395 seconds after liftoff. About 540 seconds after launch, the satellite is to be separated from the second-stage rocket.

Officials said they would know whether the launch had been successful approximately nine minutes after blastoff. The first communication with the satellite is expected to take place about 12-13 hours after the liftoff.

Naro, which weighs 140 tons and measures 33.5 meters in length and 2.9 meters in diameter, has been jointly developed by state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute and Russia''s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center.

The Russian institution has developed the liquid fuel first-stage rocket, which is powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, and generates a thrust of 170 tons. The solid fuel second-stage rocket, which is powered by a "kick motor" and generates a thrust of eight tons, has been developed by the KARI.

The second stage will carry into orbit "the Science and Technology Satellite 2," which was jointly developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.

The launch was originally scheduled for 2005, but has been delayed seven times......

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)

from : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/08/24/200908240038.asp