YONHAP NEWS reports that South Korea’s first attempt to put its own satellite into orbit has failed. One of the two fairings — the aerodynamic covers for the satellite–failed to detach, resulting in it not achieving enough lift to make orbit. The satellite is suspected to have re-entered and burned up.
“Only one fairing was ejected 216 seconds after launch with the other section remaining in place until the Science and Technology Satellite-2 (STSAT-2) separated from the second stage rocket 540 seconds into the flight, the ministry in charge of the country’s science and technology policies said. ‘The fairings weigh 300kg or three times more than the scientific satellite, making it effectively impossible for the second stage rocket to generate the necessary thrust to keep the satellite in orbit,’ said Vice Science and Technology Minister Kim Jung-hyun.”
Author Archives: Sean Gallagher
Iran’s Sejil missile ‘threatens Europe’
Iran’s Sejil missile ‘threatens Europe’ .
“Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel’s ballistic missile defense program, says Iran has made a “technological and strategic breakthrough” with its Sejil-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which will be able to hit a swathe of European states in three to four years.That assertion…intensified concerns that Iran has stepped up its drive to acquire ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He said that the two-stage Sejil-2 has an estimated range of 1,560 miles, not 1,250 miles as previously thought, and that the successful testing of a solid-fueled missile on May 20 was a major breakthrough for Iran.”
Watch for this being used as justification of additional work on the land-based ABM defense, and, as a result, further diplomatic tension with Russia over that system — either that, or the Obama administration is going to have to come to some sort of agreement with Russia over cooperative policies on Iran and on missile defense.
Sean M. Gallagher 