​South Korea successfully launched its homegrown rocket, Nuri, with the Antarctic King Sejong Station confirming communication with the main satellite.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI) announced that the rocket lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province at 6:24 p.m. on Thursday as scheduled.

The government has confirmed the successful deployment of seven of the eight satellites on board, including the next-generation Small Satellite Number Two, which established communication with South Korea’s Antarctic King Sejong Station as planned. Efforts are under way to confirm the deployment of the last satellite.

The rocket functioned as expected, with the first-stage segment, the fairing and the second stage separated before reaching an altitude of 550 kilometers 13 minutes and three seconds after blastoff.

The launch was initially scheduled for the same time on Wednesday, but it was called off three hours beforehand due to communication errors between a launch pad facility control computer and a launch control computer.

The issue was fixed after overnight efforts while keeping the rocket erected on the launch pad.