Space technology has advanced through trial and error, a solace for Korean scientists who were humiliated by the past two failed launches of the country’s first locally assembled rocket called Naro.

Advanced economies such as the U.S. and Japan have a record of launch failures. Even Russia, which fired the most rockets into space between 1957 and 2011, had several misfires.

In a survey of 1,000 Koreans by a local news agency, over 80 percent said that Korea should increase its space investment and not give up whether it fails to launch its rocket again this Friday.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)