14 DAY TRIAL // South Korea joined today the “space nations” group, when it launched its first rocket to orbit, carrying a scientific payload. The successful take-off took place from the Naro Space Center, a facility operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, located some 485 kilometers (300 miles) South of the capital Seoul. Originally named the Korea Space Launch Vehicle, or KSLV, the Naro-1 rocket blasted off at 5 pm local time, and managed to release its payload into orbit, the BBC News reports.
The launch event was watched with pride by the country's population, for whom the rocket is a symbol of national pride. The rocket experienced several unsuccessful launch attempts. Each time the mission controllers would attempt to start the countdown, some sensor would malfunction, and the entire sequence would be aborted. This was not the case today, when everything went according to plan.
The launch made South Korea the tenth country in history to launch a satellite from its own territory. The 140-ton monster featured two engines, and a height of more than 25.8 meters (84.6 feet), the Joongang Daily reports. According to the report, the fuel and oxidation agents began to be injected into the spacecraft's tanks soon after 1 pm local time. About 15 minutes before the launch, an automated countdown sequence began, which was scheduled to stop if any malfunctions in any of the rocket's systems were to be discovered.
But not everyone is ecstatic about the new launch. The country's neighbor, North Korea, is viewing it with suspicion, especially because it received reprimands from the major powers of the world on account of its own rocket tests earlier this year. Despite the fact that the Pyongyang is still claiming that the tests were designed to place a satellite in orbit, and that the mission was successful, American services were unable to discover any traces of the satellite orbiting the planet.