South Korea's government said on Tuesday it had approved plans to launch the country's first rocket into space in late July. The National Space Committee gave the green light to the planned launch, tentatively scheduled for July 30 at Naro Space Centre in Goheung, about 475km south of Seoul, a government statement said. Construction of the rocket is in effect complete and work is to begin soon to connect the first-stage main thruster to the second-stage space vehicle, the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute said.
South Korean scientists unveiled the mock-up of a rocket designed to send a domestically produced research satellite into orbit next year from the country's spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. A successful launch from the Naro Space Centre would make Korea the ninth country in the world to launch its own satellite from home soil.