The government says the failure of the nation's first space rocket to put a satellite into its target orbit was due to the improper separation of a fairing covering the satellite.

Quoting probe results by a Korea-Russia joint investigation committee, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry said Wednesday that while the first- and second-stage rockets separated as planned after the launch at the Naro Space Center, one of the two fairings covering the satellite did not release properly.

The ministry said that due to the failure in the fairing separation, the rocket could not sufficiently execute its flight plan and overshot the intended trajectory, reaching an altitude of 327 kilometers, instead of the optimum altitude of 302 kilometers. The satellite is believed to have failed to secure the sufficient amount of velocity --- eight kilometers per second --- required to stay in orbit.

A ministry official said the satellite most likely fell back toward Earth and was destroyed in the atmosphere.