S. Korea to test launch domestically developed space rocket engine

South Korea is gearing up to launch a locally-developed 75-ton space rocket engine.
It will be used for the country's first space vehicle built with solely with its home-grown technology.
The rocket itself is due to be launched in around three years from now.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
This is a booster rocket engine clocking in at a height of 25-point-8 meters, a diameter of 2-point-6 meters, and weighing more than 52 tons.
It's South Korea's locally developed 75-ton thrust, single-rocket engine... and it will be test launched on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute,... the engine has been transported to the launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeollanam-do Province.
The engine will be used in the nation's first space vehicle wholly designed and built with domestic technology called Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 Nuri, or KSLV-2.
It does not carry a satellite, and is a single-engine,... meaning there will be no engine separation.
The goal is to monitor whether the engine burns well for 143 seconds.

"The engine performance is what we are most interested in. We'll be able to assess the performance once we are done monitoring the data."

The engine will reach an altitude of 100 kilometers about 160 seconds after blast-off,... reaching its maximum altitude at around 300 seconds,... and fly for 10 minutes before splashing down in international waters in the Pacific Ocean.
South Korea aims to launch the KSLV-2 to put a 1-point-5-ton satellite into orbit by 2021.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.