South Korea is preparing to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space, after an earlier attempt was scrapped¹ over fire safety problems.

韩国将向外太空发射一枚载有卫星的火箭，此前的一次尝试因消防安全问题而取消。

The rocket has been partly built in South Korea

Lift-off of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) is scheduled for 1701 (0801 GMT).

But officials said weather conditions would be closely monitored before a final decision to launch was made.

This is South Korea's second attempt to put a satellite in space, after a launch in August 2009 failed.

It will up the ante（提高赌注加码） in what some observers have described as an "Asian space race".

China, India and Japan have developed a launch capability²; China has also sent three manned missions into space.

Malfunction³

South Korea's rocket had been due to take off from the Naro Space Centre in Goheun on Wednesday.

But lift-off was cancelled three hours before launch after fire extinguishing（熄灭） fluids were detected leaking from parts of the equipment.

South Korea's Ministry⁴ for Education, Science and Technology told the Yonhap news agency that thorough checks had confirmed the leaks did not affect the safety of the rocket and the launch had been rescheduled.

Vice-Science Minister Kim Jung-hyun said weather conditions would be closely checked in the final hours before launch.

"Air Force KF-15 fighters are to make flights along the rocket's flight trajectory⁵ to carefully monitor cloud build-ups expected later in the day," Mr Kim told Yonhap.

A spokesman for the state-run Korea Aerospace⁶ Research Institute said all faulty hardware had been replaced and steps taken to prevent a repeat of the earlier faults.

The rocket stands 33m (108ft) tall and will be launched from the country's new spaceport on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula（半岛） .

Built partly in Russia and partly in South Korea, the rocket will launch a 91kg (200lb) test spacecraft called the Science and Technology Satellite.

South Korea's first launch of the two-stage KSLV-1, in August last year, failed to place its satellite payload into the proper orbit.

Four months previously⁷, an attempted space launch by North Korea was deemed to have failed when the US reported that both rocket stages had fallen into the Pacific Ocean.

The North's launch was seen as a cover for a long-range missile test.

But all of South Korea's immediate⁸ neighbours accept that its attempt is part of a peaceful civilian⁹（民用的） programme.