South Korea will give up Russian Angara
South Korea will refuse to use Russian rockets to launch its own spacecraft. This was reported by Yonhap with reference to the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology of the Republic.
The agency recalls that the South Korean government originally planned to conduct two launches using Russian rockets (Angara-1.2 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome and Soyuz-2 from Baikonur), but after the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, it became difficult because of the difficulties arising from the international community’s sanctions.
According to Yonhap, the most likely replacements for Russian missiles would be European or U.S. ones, which would require an additional $61 million.
In June, The Japan Times noted that the world has a seventh space power, South Korea, which for the first time managed to launch satellites into space on a rocket of its own design.
In July 2016, Khrunichev Center director general Andrei Kalinovsky reported that South Korea would be the customer for the first commercial launch of Russia’s new Angara rocket.
