Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
The first launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is scheduled for Aug. 11 after a successful engine test last week. The agency that is developing the rocket, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, assembled the launcher on Aug. 1, uniting the South Korean solid-fuel second stage with the Russian-built liquid-fuel first stage. It will now undergo one week of checks before launch from the Naro Space Center 485 kilometers (301 miles) south of Seoul.
Six Airbus A380s due for delivery to Thai Airways will be delayed by about two years. The delay will ease liquidity problems for Thai, which has also said that it will be hard to economically deploy the A380. The first Thai A380 will arrive in the third quarter of 2012. It was previously due at the end of next year.
SURION ROLLOUT: Korea Aerospace Industries has rolled out the first prototype of its Korean Utility Helicopter, now renamed Surion, marking the country’s entry into rotary-wing military aircraft following such earlier projects as the T-50 supersonic trainer. A first flight in March is due to follow ground testing, with first deliveries to the South Korean army in 2012. The South Korean armed forces require 245 of the utility helicopters for such roles as troop transport, but Korea Aerospace holds hopes of selling more to the military and other government customers.
