South Korea postpones rocket launch due to gas leak

Workers of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute wheel the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), South Korea’s third space rocket, to its launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. The rocket is scheduled to blast off on Oct. 26 for the third launch attempt of its first space rocket. AP Photo/Korea Pool KOREA OUT

SEOUL, South Korea— South Korea has been forced to postpone its third attempt to launch a satellite into space from its own soil because of a last-minute technical glitch.

South Korean space agency Chief Kim Seung-jo says engineers found a gas leak in the link between the two-stage rocket and the launch pad just hours before Friday’s planned lift-off.

South Korea has tried unsuccessfully two other times to launch a satellite from its own soil. In 2009, the rocket failed to deploy the satellite in orbit. In 2010, the rocket carrying the satellite exploded just two minutes after lift-off.

Kim says it will take at least another three days to try again.

The rocket’s first stage was made by Russia while the second was built by South Korea.