South Korea plans to fly its first space launch vehicle, the KSLV 1, in 2007, carrying a science and technology satellite into an elliptical low-Earth orbit.
The KSLV will be powered by a Khrunichev engine that will also be used in the Russian Angara satellite launch vehicle, combined with a South Korean-developed solid-propellant second stage. The Angara first-stage engine, the RD-191, was first tested by Russia's NPO Energomash in June 2001.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute plans uprated versions of the launch vehicle, the KSLV 2 and 3, and says the latter could launch a 1.5t Kompsat multi-purpose satellite into a 700-800km (430-500 miles) orbit in 2015.
Source: Flight International
