S. Korea likely to retry launching its first carrier rocket in November - source
MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax-AVN) - South Korea will most likely put off its third attempt to launch a satellite with its first-ever space carrier rocket, KSLV-1, for three or four weeks after an unsuccessful try on Friday, a source in the Russian space rocket industry said on Saturday.
"The South Koreans simply won't be able to fit into the current [launch] window [for the satellite], which opened on October 26 and closes on October 31," the source told Interfax-AVN. The next window would open after November 20, he said.
"They take three days to take a rocket to the launch pad and test it," he explained. "And, moreover, they still have to replace the sealer in the device that connects the [fuel supply unit] to the first stage of the carrier rocket."
Early next week, Russian and South Korean specialists will try to find out the cause of the damage to the sealer, the source said.
"The joint Russian-South Korean commission will definitively set the date for the launch early next week," he said.
"Obtaining the approval of the launch window from the International Civil Aviation Organization is a procedure that takes eight to 10 days," the source said.