The Science and Technology Ministry has announced a plan to overhaul its program to develop the nation’s first space rocket.

The ministry will announce a new project operator in July with the goal to attract specialists from the nation’s industries, academia and research institutes.

This move comes following criticism that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute failed to attract the nation’s top experts while it led the program.

The ministry says its decision is intended to boost success of developing the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2), which is scheduled to take off in 2021.

The project will be divided into three phases from 2012 to 2021 and the accomplishments will be verified for each stage to make continuous improvements.

By the end of the second phase in 2018, a 75-ton basic rocket engine will be completed. Test launches will be conducted to examine engine performance after which four basic engines will be combined to develop a 300-ton first-stage rocket engine.

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 will be a three-stage rocket to place a satellite, weighing one-point-five tons, into orbit some 600 to 800 kilometers above Earth. The project will cost a total of over one-point-five trillion won.