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| Korea's Nuri space rocket is erected on a launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, June 1. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute |
A North Korean propaganda outlet described South Korea's "half-successful" launch of its first domestically developed space rocket as "a definite failure," saying the South has a long way to go before proving its space-faring capabilities.
Quoting what it claimed were "comments from South Korean and foreign experts," the Echo of Unification, an anti-Seoul propaganda outlet, reported that the ultimate goal of the rocket launch was to send a dummy satellite into the orbit, which Nuri, or the Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV) II, failed to do in last week's launch.
The KSLV II was successfully launched from the country's southwest coast Oct. 21, flying to a target altitude of 700 kilometers.
But it failed to put its 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit.
If successful, it would have made South Korea the seventh country to have developed an SLV capable of carrying a more than 1-ton satellite. South Korea plans to conduct another launch next year.
It is the first time a North Korean media outlet has run a report on the Nuri rocket launch.
The outlet reported that "the technological skills of Nuri are still 10 to 20 years behind," and that the South has "a long way to go before it proves its launching ability and competitiveness," quoting another expert. (Yonhap)
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