After launching at 4 p.m. from South Korea's space launch centre on a southern island, the three-stage Nuri rocket placed a working "performance verification" satellite at a target altitude of 700 kilometres (435 miles), according to the Science Ministry.
Digital Desk: Officials said on Tuesday that South Korea
successfully launched its first satellite using a domestically produced rocket,
indicating that the country has critical technologies needed to launch spy
satellites and build larger missiles amid tensions with neighbour North Korea.
After launching at 4 p.m. from South Korea's space launch centre
on a southern island, the three-stage Nuri rocket placed a working
"performance verification" satellite at a target altitude of 700
kilometres (435 miles), according to the Science Ministry.
The satellite sent
signals to an unmanned South Korean station in Antarctica on its status.
According to ministry officials, it is carrying four smaller satellites that
will be launched in the following days for Earth monitoring and other tasks.
