The nation's second attempt to launch its first space rocket has failed.

Minister of Education, Science and Technology Ahn Byung-man announced in a briefing on Thursday that the Naro space rocket was functioning normally until 137 seconds into flight, but the ground control center lost its communication link thereafter at an altitude of 70 kilometers.

He said the rocket is presumed to have exploded before the first stage booster was separated, citing a video footage from a camera installed on the second stage of the rocket. (video below)

Ahn said Korean and Russian scientists will form a joint committee to figure out what caused the explosion. He said that the government will begin preparations for a third attempt to launch the space rocket after announcing the investigation results.





The rocket, also known as KSLV-1, was launched as scheduled at 5:01 p.m. on Thursday after a day’s delay at the Naro Space Center on the south coast.



















The Naro rocket, manufactured in cooperation with Russia, was launched with an aim of putting a science satellite into orbit some 300 kilometers above the earth.

The launch had previously been aborted on Wednesday due to a malfunction of fire extinguishing equipment.

The first attempt to put the satellite into orbit aboard the Naro space rocket failed last August due to the malfunctioning of a fairing that covers the satellite.