South Korea rocket 'explodes' moments after take-off

Page last updated at 10:07 GMT, Thursday, 10 June 2010 11:07 UK

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Communication was lost shortly after KSLV-1 took off, local media say

A South Korean rocket intended to put a satellite into orbit appears to have exploded moments after take-off, officials say.

The rocket is thought to have blown up 137 seconds after take-off, said science minister Ahn Byong-Man.

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 lifted off from Goheung's Naro Space Centre at 1701 (0801 GMT).

But contact was lost as the rocket reached an altitude of 70 kilometres (44 miles).

"Looking from the bright flash seen on the camera mounted on the tip of the rocket, it appears the [rocket] exploded in flight during the first-stage ignition," said Mr Ahn.

Pictures on Korean television appeared to show the rocket's last moments, with parts of the craft coming down in the sea.

The launch was South Korea's second attempt to put a satellite in space, after a launch in August 2009 failed.

Analysts say that if confirmed, the explosion is a major setback for South Korea in what some observers have described as an "Asian space race".

Analysis

It looked like a text-book launch, but just two minutes into the flight ground controllers lost contact with the rocket - a major setback, although KSLV-1 is thought to have continued on its eastwards trajectory, and was expected to be some 300km high when it crossed over Japan.

Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan, speaking from the launch base, said he hoped the rocket could still successfully place a satellite into orbit.

If it does, South Korea will become only the 10th country with that capability, which it hopes will bring it a lucrative slice of the growing space launch industry.

Failure is commonplace for any nation trying to develop a new rocket; some estimates put it as high as 50%.

South Korea's first attempt, in August last year, ended with the satellite crashing back down to earth.

China, India and Japan have developed a launch capability; China has also sent three manned missions into space.

Earlier, Lee Joo-Jin, the head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (Kari) said the rocket had broken the speed of sound before communications were lost after 137 seconds.

The satellite - which had been intended to study the effects of climate change - was set to separate from the rocket and deploy its solar panels some nine minutes after take-off, at an altitude of 302km.

The rocket had been due to take off on Wednesday, but lift-off was cancelled three hours before launch after fire extinguishing fluids were detected leaking from parts of the equipment.

South Korea's Ministry for Education, Science and Technology said thorough checks had confirmed the leaks did not affect the safety of the rocket and the launch had been rescheduled.

Weather conditions had been closely checked in the final hours before launch.

Vice-Science Minister Kim Jung-hyun said Air Force KF-15 fighters were to make flights along the rocket's flight trajectory to carefully monitor expected cloud build-ups.

A Kari spokesman said all faulty hardware had been replaced and steps taken to prevent a repeat of the earlier faults.

The rocket stood 33m (108ft) tall and was launched from the country's new spaceport on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Built partly in Russia and partly in South Korea, it had been meant to launch a 91kg (200lb) test spacecraft called the Science and Technology Satellite.

South Korea's first launch of the two-stage KSLV-1, in August last year, failed to place its satellite payload into the proper orbit.

Four months previously, an attempted space launch by North Korea was deemed to have failed when the US reported that both rocket stages had fallen into the Pacific Ocean.

The North's launch was seen as a cover for a long-range missile test, and prompted UN sanctions.

Pyongyang had voiced irritation at the South's rocket development, but most other powers in the region accepted that its attempt was part of a peaceful civilian programme.