S. Korea's rocket moved to launch pad

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- S. Korea's first space rocket was moved to its launch pad for its blastoff arranged for Aug. 26, the state-run aerospace institute said Sunday.

According to Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), responsible for the launch, the rocket made it to the launch pad, located at the Naro Space Center in the southern part of the nation.

The rocket will be set up by 3:50 p.m. (0650 GMT) and later be connected with all mechanical and electrical cables by 09:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) for thorough check-ups, the KARI said.

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), South Korea's first satellite-carrying rocket, will be fired on Tuesday around 05:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), if there are no last minute problems with the weather or the systems.

KARI said that if there are no last minute problems with the weather or launch systems, the country's first satellite-carrying rocket will blast off on Tuesday around 5:00 p.m.

South Korea has earlier notified of the blastoff to both the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, with reserving a "launch window" until Wednesday in case of contingencies.

The launch of the KSLV-1, which was originally scheduled for July 30, had to be postponed twice to Aug. 19 due to technical problems.

However, the countdown for the Aug. 19 launch was suspended 7 minutes and 56 seconds before ignition due to a problem in the high pressure tank that can affect valves in the first-stage rocket.

The South Korean government said it has finished repairing the detected trouble in the tank, saying it is now ready for the launch.

South Korea, working with Russia, began the space rocket project in August 2002 and initially planned to launch the rocket in October 2007.