South Korea decided to launch its first space rocket at 05:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) Tuesday, after a series of delays caused by technical problems.

"After a full launch rehearsal, we concluded the rocket is now ready for liftoff," said an official at Seoul's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which is in charge of the rocket launch.

Full checks on all control, communication and mechanical systems conducted earlier on Monday showed all on-board systems were functioning normally.

Weather conditions are also favorable for launch, with a slight breeze and little chance of lightning, according to the ministry.

"Sudden unforeseen weather conditions may delay the liftoff," said Vice Science and Technology Minister Kim Jung-hyun, adding that the launch window has been excluded between 5:20 (0820 GMT) and 5:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) due to chance that space objects orbiting the Earth could collide with the rocket or satellite.

Following fuel and oxidation injection around 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT), which takes about one hour, the automatic 15-minute countdown sequence will be started at 4:45 p.m. (0745 GMT).

The 1st-stage engine will be ignited 3.8 seconds before the rocket launch, and the success of the launch will be first confirmed 540 seconds after the liftoff.

The first communication with the satellite and South Korea is expected to be made 12 to 13 hours after the blastoff if the satellite safely makes it to its orbit.

The launch of South Korea's first space rocket, Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), was originally scheduled for July 30, but had to be postponed twice to Aug. 19 due to technical issues.

The countdown for the Aug. 19 launch, however, was again suspended 7 minutes and 56 seconds before ignition due to a problem in the high pressure tank that can affect valves in the first-stage rocket.

If the KSLV-1 is successfully launched, South Korea will be marked as the world's 10th country to shoot a locally developed scientific satellite in its territory.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2009)