SEOUL, 22 June 2022, (TON): South Korea said “it had successfully launched its homegrown space rocket and placed a payload into orbit in a giant leap for the country’s quest to become an advanced space-faring nation.”

The Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle II, nicknamed Nuri and emblazoned with the South Korean flag, from the launch site in Goheung on the southern coast, trailing a column of flame.

Seoul said “all three stages of the rocket worked, taking it to its target altitude of 700 kilometers (430 miles), and it successfully separated a performance verification satellite and put it into orbit.”

South Korea’s space program has taken a giant leap forward, said “Lee Jong-ho, minister of science and technology, adding he declared the mission a success.”

He said “South Korea has now become the seventh nation in the world to launch a space vehicle with homegrown technology.”

He added “the government would continue its quest to become “an advanced space-faring nation.”