SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Wednesday successfully conducted a rocket engine test launch, news reports said, paving the way for the development of its own space launch vehicle. A liquid-fuel engine successfully propelled a single-stage rocket weighing 52 tonnes and measuring 25.8 meters (84.6 feet) long, from the Naro Space Center on the southern coast, Yonhap news agency said. The engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI ) as part of a $1.8 billion project, will be used to propel the country's first indigenous three-stage launch vehicle -- the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2). "This is a significant step forward in developing a launch vehicle with our own technology," a KARI spokesman said. Wednesday's test was deemed successful as the engine combustion was maintained for over 140 seconds during the test launch, Yonhap said.

Source: Philippine Star November 28, 2018 08:36 UTC