KSLV-1 launch is scheduled for Friday

South Korea KSLV-1 (the first S.Korea Space Launch Vehicle, also known as Naro), was installed onto its launch pad at the national Naro Space Center on October 24.

In the next few days the LV and ground complex will undergo final system checkups to verify launch readiness.

KSLV-1

Launch of KLSV-1 is scheduled for October 26.

Russia and South Korea had signed an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. They agreed to jointly develop and build a space booster complex for South Korea based on the small-lift KSLV-1 launch vehicle. The KSLV-I contract was signed in October 2004. The first stage of KSLV-I was developed and fabricated in Russia while the second stage and payload were designed and built in S.Korea.

KSLV-1

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is the Customer in KSLV project. The Moscow-based Khrunichev Space Center is the prime contractor on the Russian side. The other Russian participants include NPO Energomash (designer and builder of the first stage propulsion system) and Transportation Machine-Building Design Bureau (designer of the ground complex).