South Korea is gaining traction for the planned test launch of its next-generation Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2(KSLV-2) in December next year.

Cho Gwang-rae, the head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI), told reporters Sunday that the incomplete combustion issue that had posed a problem for the locally built 75-ton thrust engine for the KSLV-2 is gradually being resolved.

The 47-point-two-meter three-stage KSLV-2 rocket is to be South Korea's first domestically designed and built space vehicle. The country is hoping for a successful space rocket launch by 2020.