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The Ministry of Education and Science Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute are planning to launch the first satellite from the Naro Space Centre on 30 July. The Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1 or Naro) rocket will propel a small scientific satellite into low earth orbit.

If successful, the launch will propel Korea into the the so-called ‘space club’ of nations with the capacity to indigenously build and place satellites in orbit. It will join nine other countries – the US, Russia, France, Japan, China, the UK, India, Israel and Iran – with such capabilities.

Naro, South Korea’s first space launch complex, was officially opened on 11 June. The facility in Goheung covers about 5 million square metres and cost around 312 billion won (US $246.4 million) to build, according to Korean media reports. The complex houses a mission centre, launch and flight safety control facilities, launch pad, meteorological observatory and radar and optical tracking systems.

Yoo Guk Hee, who heads the ministry's space development division, says construction on the more powerful KSLV-2 will begin after the successful launch of the KSLV-1. The KSLV is capable of launching a 100 kg satellite into orbit; the KLSV-II, a 1.5 ton satellite.

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