A satellite launched by South Korea's first space rocket has fallen to Earth and burnt up after missing its designated orbit.The rocket launched successfully but failed to push the satellite into orbit, officials say.
Source: Agencies
- "The satellite fell to earth and was burnt and lost," South Korea's science and technology ministry said on Wednesday, adding the government would form a team to analyse findings of a South Korea-Russian investigation and prepare for a re-launch.
- The problem was caused by one of the two fairings which covered the satellite at the rocket's tip, the ministry said.
- Because one of them did not fall away from the rocket after opening, the rocket could not achieve enough speed to overcome gravity and to place the satellite in its intended orbit.
- After years of delays, South Korea successfully launched its two-stage Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) from the Naro space centre in the south of the country on Tuesday, but Lee Myung-bak, the president, called the exercise only a "half success".
- The failure to send the satellite into orbit was a blow to Seoul's quest to become only the 10th nation in the world capable of launching satellites independently from its own territory.
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