The Khrunichev Space Center have completed fabrication and tests of Stage 1 for KSLV-1 (Korea Space Launch Vehicle #1), and processed the flight article for shipment to South Korea.
On the night of 23 August, the rail convoy with Stage 1 for KSLV-1 left Moscow for Ulyanovsk.Earlier today, From Ulyanovsk, the cargo will be flown by the Polyot air carrier to the South Korean city/port of Pusan to be then re-directed to the Naro Space Center.
Russia and South Korea had signed an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. They agreed to jointly develop and build a space booster complex for South Korea based on the small-lift KSLV-1 launch vehicle. The KSLV-I contract was signed in October 2004. The first stage of KSLV-I was developed and fabricated in Russia while the second stage and payload were designed and built in S. Korea.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is the Customer in KSLV project. The Mocsow-based Khrunichev Space Center is the prime contractor on the Russian side. The other Russian participants include NPO Energomash (designer and builder of the first stage propulsion system) and Transportation Machine-Building Design Bureau (designer of the ground complex). The Russian specialists designed the ground facilities of Naro, S.Korea’s first spaceport, and took part in its construction. The facilities of the Naro Space Center will support space launches and mission control. The first stone for the launch pad was brought from the famed Gagarin’s Pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.The first two launches of KSLV-1 took place in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
