hankyoreh

South Jeolla

By Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporter

Is the third launch attempt for the Naro space rocket this October being pushed too hard before the upcoming presidential election? Observers are suggesting so.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) submitted a report on delays in the third launch of the Korean Space Launch Vehicle to the office of Democratic United Party lawmaker Park Hong-keun. The report states that the first stage of the Naro, which was to be produced by Russia, has yet to be sent to South Korea.

“Given that it takes at least two months to prepare for a launch, there may be serious safety issues with carrying out a launch in October,” Park said.

Noting that the original plan was for April 2011 to April 2013, Park added, “I have to ask whether this rush to move the schedule up six months and launch it in October isn’t just a political event that’s being staged for the benefit of December’s presidential election.”

Policy secretary Jo Jeong-wook explained that private sector scientists had initially selected spring 2013 as a deadline, but the MEST set the revised October deadline on July 20.

“Assembly of the flight model at the Naro Space Center has been held up due to the delay in the first stage of the launch vehicle, so scheduled preparations are going to be tight,” Jo added.

Park expressed concerns about the rush.

“Seeing the government rush this launch, I can’t help but be reminded of last week’s nightmare scenario at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where they tried to finish a four-year construction schedule in just twenty months to get it in before the end of the President’s term, and ended up having a tragic fire,” he said.

“I am very worried that the Lee Myung-bak administration’s unrealistic goals are going to ruin ten years of hard work with the Naro and its attempt to have a lucky third try,” he added.

Ko Seo-gon, who heads the MEST’s space technology division, explained that an agreement was made with Russia in Dec. 2011 to have the third launch take place by around October of this year.

“The reason the plan was originally for April of next year was because it included follow-up work like confirming the satellite’s entry into orbit, returning the Russian equipment and items, and reorganizing the Naro Space Center,” Ko said.

Ko also said the MEST received a letter from Russia last week confirming that the first-stage rocket would be delivered within the month.

“There is nothing rushed about holding the launch in October according to the original plan,” he added.

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