South Korea will try again on Aug. 25 to launch its first space rocket after identifying a software fault as the source of the problem that caused it to cancel an Aug. 19 attempt eight minutes before its scheduled lift-off. The glitch was in software used in measuring pressure in high-pressure tanks in the KSLV-1 rocket, says Deputy Science and Technology Minister Kim Jung-Hyun (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 20). Data showed the tanks losing pressure, but in fact there was no hardware problem, he says.

Japan Airlines’ Cargo operations and Nippon Cargo Airlines will merge, aiming at overcoming their losses through cost cuts and economies of scale. The Transport Ministry had already urged such a merger, along with a round of other drastic reforms. Japan Airlines is surviving on state money, a situation the ministry is exploiting to intrude into the management of the private company as though it were a government entity.

Air China will take a big step toward controlling Cathay Pacific, buying up more shares in a transaction that largely consolidates the Chinese state-controlled holdings in the Hong Kong airline. The stock purchase may be Air China’s penultimate move on Cathay Pacific’s share register. The next step could be a decisive takeover, although no one is saying when that will happen.