South Korea rocket launch may be set next month: reports

MANILA -- After a technical defect deferred its scheduled rocket launch last week, South Korea may retry next month its bid to join the league of other spacefaring countries.

State-funded Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) reported that the launch of the nation's first space rocket will be impossible to be set within the remaining days of October since its damaged rubber seal will be examined for four to five days by Russia, the country where the space vehicle was manufactured.

The KBS report added that the launch of the rocket, the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) or the Naro-1, isn't expected to be held until November 10 at the earliest.

The KSLV-1, which will be carrying the country's Science and Technology Satellite-2, was originally scheduled to blast off on October 26. However, the lift-off was suspended due to the broken rubber seal of a launch pad connector.

Meanwhile, Yonhap News Agency reported that the candidate dates for the rocket launch may be those from November 9, the most probable blast-off day, to 24.

In the Philippines, Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said earlier that there will be no changes in the preparations made by the government despite the postponement of the rocket launch.

"The (contingency) plan is still in effect," Ramos said in a text message.

Among the actions included in the contingency plan is the issuance of a "no sail, no fly, and no fish zone" policy in the country's eastern seaboard on the launch day.

The said policy was still imposed last Friday despite the launch suspension. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)