Glitch forces South Korea to halt launch of domestically made space rocket

ANKARA (AA) – South Korea has started an inspection of its domestically made Nuri space rocket after a scheduled launch was canceled due to a technical issue, local media reported on Thursday.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) postponed the launch indefinitely at the last minute on Wednesday after detecting a glitch in the rocket’s oxidizer tank sensor, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The rocket was due for liftoff on Thursday from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, a southern coastal town some 470 kilometers (293 miles) south of the capital Seoul.

Officials said they are still trying to figure out the cause of the problem, and a new launch date will be announced once the fault is identified and resolved.

South Korea has spent nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) on building Nuri since 2010, with all aspects including design, production, testing and launch operations done within the country.

In its first flight last October, the 200-ton Nuri reached its target altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles) but “failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit as its third-stage engine burned out earlier than expected,” according to the report.

South Korea is aiming for four more Nuri rocket launches by 2027, the report said.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid​​​​​​​