* Astronomy

South Korea plans to launch its first weather-communications satellite into space in March, 2010, the country's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said on Friday.
According to the ministry, the satellite was developed jointly by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and France's Astrium. It will be placed in geostationary orbit 36,000 km from Earth and be equipped with a multi-spectrum camera and sensor array that can help gather high quality ocean meteorological data including typhoons, ocean temperatures, the movement of dust and cloud formations, the ministry said.

Read more