South Korea set to launch satellite.

South Korea is set to loft a satellite into space for the first time, after an attempt last year failed.

Ground controllers plan to launch the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 (KSLV-1) on Wednesday between 1630 and 1840 (0730-0940GMT) from the Naro Space Center in Goheung.

The launch will up the ante in what some observers have described as an "Asian space race".

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

Officials have decided to go ahead with the launch after fixing an electrical problem picked up during launch preparations.

The part-Russian, part South Korean rocket will launch a 91kg (200lb) test satellite called the Science and Technology Satellite 2B (STSAT 2B).

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

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 previously, 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.