New South Korean Space Center

South Korea has finished building its Naro space center, which is located in an island off Goheung, about 300 miles south of Seoul. A Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-1 or Naro-1) rocket is scheduled to be launched from the space center on July 30, 2009. The rocket will carry a weather observation satellite that will orbit the Earth.

According to the South Korean Science Ministry, building the space center took about four and a half years to complete and cost over US$250 million. The Naro Space Center uses Russian technology and design, and the KSLV-1 rocket was built with Russia's assistance.

While this is the first time that South Korea will be launching a spacecraft from within the country, 11 South Korean satellites have previously been launched from overseas.

South Korea is now the world's 13th country to have its own space center.

South Korea is planning to launch another KSLV-1 rocket in April 2010, a lunar satellite in 2020 and a spacecraft that will land on and explore the moon in 2005.  It hopes to use its own technology to build new rockets.

In April 2009, North Korea launched a rocket, claiming that it was being used peacefully, to launch a satellite. However, other nations said that there was no satellite and that North Korea was, in fact, testing a long-range missile. The United Nations Security Council condemned North Korea's action.