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June 11, 2009
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The Naro Space Center, located 485 kilometers (301 miles) south of Seoul and covering 5.07 million square meters (1,252 acres), was built at a cost of 312.4 billion won ($248.6 million), the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said. Work began in December 2000, with groundbreaking taking place in mid-2003. The complex located on the southern coast has a state-of-the-art mission control center, launch and flight safety control facilities, launch pad, meteorological observatory and both radar and optical tracking systems to follow the trajectory of all rockets launched. It is scheduled to launch the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 on July 30, which could make Korea the 13th member of the so-called “space club” comprising countries that currently operate space centers and can orbit satellites. The rocket, also called Naro-1, cost 502.5 billion won to make and will carry a small scientific satellite into Earth’s orbit. The two-stage rocket, built in cooperation with Russia, can generate 170 tons of thrust and is designed to deliver a 100-kilogram (220-pound)payload. “The Naro center and the KSLV-1 are critical milestones in the country’s space program,” said Yoo Guk-hee, head of the ministry’s space development division. Following the successful launch of the KSLV-1, work will start on the construction of the more powerful KSLV-2 that could be launched around 2018, he said. This project will be followed by efforts to send an unmanned probe into the Moon’s orbit in 2020 and build a lunar lander five years later. Yoo said that the center, with its advanced rocket engine facilities, could help Korea acquire key technologies that are not shared by other countries, and strive to become one of the top 10 space exploration leaders in the coming years. Yonhap |
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