South Korea Launches First Satellite In Its History, Misses Orbit

by Yuliya Talmazan | August 25, 2009 at 08:54 am

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South Korea has launched its first ever satellite aboard the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) on Tuesday. However, the authorities had to admit after the launch that the satellite missed orbit. South Korea said that the satellite had a purely scientific purpose. In May of this year, North Korea allegedly tested a nuclear explosive device under the cover of trying to place a satellite in orbit, but the U.S., Japan and South Korea denounced the launch as a long-range ballistic missile test.

Engineers from the Korean Aerospace Research Institute were trying to locate the satellite, the national news agency Yonhap reported. It was unclear whether radio contact could be made with it.

One hour after the launch, South Korean Science Minister Ahn Byong-man held a press conference, admitting that it lost track of the satellite, saying it appears to have missed the target orbit.

Officials could not immediately explain what went wrong or what would happen to the satellite, but they said it did not have a booster mechanism to correct its trajectory.