South Korea plans to launch the Naro-1 rocket with a research satellite next week in its third attempt to send a rocket into space from its soil, dpa cited the Naro Launch Preparation Committee as saying Thursday. Two previous attempts in 2009 and 2010 were failures. "Engineers from Russia and South Korea considered various technical and weather conditions this week, and decided it would be feasible to launch the rocket on November 29," the committee said in a statement. The committee consists of engineers and officials from South Korea's science ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The latest launch attempt scheduled for October 26 was cancelled at the last minute after engineers detected a defective rubber seal in a connector between the launch pad and the Russian-built first stage of the carrier rocket. The launch scheduled for next week became possible after a replacement part was delivered to South Korea on Saturday and engineers have since checked it at the Naro space complex in the south of the Korean Peninsula, the committee said. The successful launch of the 140-ton rocket is regarded as essential to South Korea's commercial space initiative to launch satellite rocket into orbit from its soil.
