S.Korean space rocket Nuri launch postponed due to technical issues

The launch of South Korea's space rocket Nuri, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, was postponed hours ahead of schedule.

"During the preparations for the third launch of the Nuri today, a communication abnormality occurred between the launch control computer and the launch pad facility control computer in the process of controlling the low-temperature helium supply valve. As a result, today's launch was canceled," said Oh Tae-seok, deputy minister of science and ICT.

"There is no problem with the valve itself, which is operated manually, but if the valve operation system goes into automatic operation mode, there is a possibility that the operation of the valve will be interrupted, so the launch will be canceled," he explained at the briefing.

"Whether tomorrow's launch is possible depends on whether the cause of today's system problem is identified and resolved," Oh added. "If the problem is resolved by tomorrow morning, we will hold a launch management committee to consider whether it is possible to launch in consideration of various factors."

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com