November 20, 2007

South Korea Plans to Send Rockets to Moon

News Item: "The South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday that it plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit the Moon in 2020 and to land another on its surface in 2025. According to the roadmap of South Korea's space exploration projects, the ministry will also develop a large-size rocket that can carry 300 tons of freight into space by 2017, and will start to build a space shuttle launching system in 2020."

Commentary: It is understandable that South Korea is excited about the upcoming space flight of Korea's first astronaut and wants to be a part of the space race going on in the East Asia, with China and Japan making progress in the space programs, but is this where ROK wants to spend huge amount of money, when that kind of fund can be allocated for the preparations for Korean reunification? Or, how about a joint inter-Korea space program, employing North Korea's rocket scientists in a truly peaceful venture?

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