The government held a ceremony Thursday to mark the opening of the nation's first space center.

The Naro Space Center, located in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, covers over five-thousand square kilometers and cost nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to complete.

It took over eight years to build the center, which is equipped with a state-of-the-art mission control center, flight safety control facilities, launch pad, radar and optical tracking systems.

The nation's first space launch vehicle called "Naro" will be launched from the center at end of next month.