[军事一瞥]韩国首次发射运载火箭未达预定目标

WSJ:South Korea's First Space Rocket Launch Fails To Gain Orbit

South Korea launched a multi-stage rocket Tuesday in the country's first space shot, but the satellite it was carrying separated a few seconds later than planned and didn't reach the proper orbit.

Officials at the Korea Aeronautical Research Institute said there was a chance that the late separation would result in a failed orbit. With first communication not expected for another 12 hours, the launch left uncertainty as to whether South Korea has successfully become the 10th country to launch satellites from its own soil.

The two-stage rocket, called Korea Space Launch Vehicle I or KSLV-I, blasted off at 5 p.m. into blue skies from the seaside Naro Space Center, near the city of Goheung on the country's south coast. It flew in a southerly direction and jettisoned its first stage about four minutes after launch in an area of the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. The satellite separated from the rocket about five minutes later.

But the separation occurred at an altitude about 35 kilometers higher than the planned 306 kilometers. Agency officials were uncertain how long it would take to determine whether the satellite reached a sustainable north-south orbit as planned.

South Korea's space agency has been active for nearly two decades and, since 1992, has launched 11 satellites via other countries' rockets and space agencies. In recent years, it developed a close relationship with the Russian space agency and sent the first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon, to the International Space Station on a Russian vessel last year.

The Russian agency built the first stage of the 140-ton KSLV-I. The Korean agency built the rocket's second stage and the 100-kilogram satellite, which will measure effects of climate and weather changes.

The agency attempted the launch last Wednesday but aborted it with about seven minutes left in the countdown due to a problem with a sensor monitoring high-pressure fuel. South Korea spent about 500 billion won, or about $400 million, on the rocket. It plans to launch a similar rocket and scientific satellite next April.

韩国首次发射运载火箭未达预定目标

韩国周二在该国的首次太空发射中发射了一枚多级运载火箭，但所携带卫星与火箭的分离时间比计划晚了几秒钟，卫星未能进入预定轨道。

韩国的电视台在直播火箭发射韩国航天研究所(Korea Aeronautical Research Institute)的官员说，可能是分离过晚导致卫星未进入预定轨道。由于首次星地联络预计还要再等12个小时，这次发射给韩国是否成功成为第十个在本土发射卫星的国家留下了悬念。

被称作“韩国航天运载器一号”的两级火箭是周二下午5时从韩国南部海岸高兴郡的罗老宇航中心发射升空的。它向南部方向飞行，发射4分钟后第一级火箭分离，落到菲律宾东部的太平洋水域。又过了约5分钟，卫星与火箭分离。

但星箭分离的高度比计划的306公里高出约35公里。有关部门官员还不能肯定需要多长时间才能判断卫星是否进入了正常预定轨道。

在因技术故障经历了一次发射推迟后，韩国成功地将“罗老号”火箭送入了太空。但该枚火箭未能将其运载的科学卫星送入预定轨道。韩国空间机构近20年来一直表现活跃，从1992年以来已通过其它国家的卫星和空间机构发射了11颗卫星。近年来，它加深了同俄罗斯航天部门的关系，去年第一名韩国宇航员李素妍搭载俄罗斯飞船进入了国际空间站。

俄罗斯方面建造了140吨重的“韩国航天运载器一号”火箭的第一级。韩国方面建造了第二级和100公斤重的卫星。这颗卫星将测量气候和天气变化情况。

韩国原计划于上周三进行发射，但在距离发射还有7分钟时，由于监测高压燃料的传感器出现问题，发射被临时取消。韩国在这枚火箭上投入了约5,000亿韩圆（约4亿美元）。它计划在明年4月份发射同样的火箭和科学卫星。