Russia's first stage for SKorean spacecraft brought to Pusan

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5/4 Tass 139

MOSCOW, April 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian-made first stage for the
South Korean space launching system Naro-1 has been brought to South
Korean airport of Pusan, Chief of the information service of the Polyot
Corporation Leonid Shirobokov told Itar-Tass on Monday.
A unique transportation operation that began overnight from March 30
to March 31 has been complete. The operation included several
transportation phases - by rail, motorway and by air, the spokesman said.
On April 4 the Ruslan heavy transport plane safely brought the precious
space cargo to Pusan airport. The container carrying the first stage of
Naro-1 missile booster is about 36 meters long with the overall weight of
the cargo reaching more than 50 tons.
Itar-Tass had earlier reported from Seoul that the first stage of the
carrier rocket, built at the Russian Khrunichev state space scientific
center, will be shipped from Pusan to Naro space center in the southwest
of the Korean peninsula, from where the rocket will be launched.
South Korea made a first attempt to launch a rocket of South Korean
production in August 2009. The Russian-built stage of the rocket worked
normally, while the Korean-built stage went wrong, as a result of which
the second stage with a research satellite never reached the assigned
orbit. Officially, the space launching was declared partly successful.
Now, South Korea will make a second launching attempt.
-0-ere/gor