South Korea abort rocket launch with minutes to go
- 00:01:44
- ITN
South Korea abort rocket launch with minutes to go
South Korea aborted its first domestic launch of a rocket just minutes before scheduled liftoff because of a technical problem, delaying space ambitions for the country hoping to become a regional space power alongside China, Japan and India. It had been set for 5 p.m. (0800 GMT, 4 a.m. EDT) from the Naro Space Centre off the southern coast but was halted less than eight minutes before liftoff due to problems with a pressure tank. The rocket would have been South Korea's first launch from its own territory. Officials said the satellite would have observed the atmosphere and ocean and believe another attempt could take place in a few days. The rocket was to have shot into space about four months after North Korea was widely criticised for firing its own rocket in defiance of United Nations sanctions. Pyongyang launched a multistage rocket it said was mounted with a satellite but the US, Japan and other nations condemned the firing as a test of ballistic missile technology since the same rocket can be mounted with a warhead. The North said it would keep a close eye on the international response to Seoul's rocket launch.
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