CNN – South Korea said Wednesday that it had put a satellite in orbit for the first time, giving a lift to its homegrown space industry and matching a feat achieved last month by its hostile neighbor, North Korea.
Amid a billowing plume of smoke, the Naro-1 rocket blasted off from a launch site perched on the edge of an island near the country’s southern coast. South Korean television footage showed it ascending into the clear blue sky.
Officials and technicians watched the launch intently to see if it would succeed in delivering its payload into orbit. A crowd of onlookers near the site applauded and waved national flags.
About an hour after takeoff, Science Minister Lee Ju-ho declared the launch a success.
The pressure on the South Korean rocket scientists to get the satellite into space increased after North Korea carried out its own successful launch last month in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Only weeks before that, the South was forced to suspend its previous attempt to launch the Naro-1 rocket after finding problems with the electronic signal just minutes before it was due to take off.
The country’s previous launch attempts in 2009 and 2010 had failed.
Analysts have said the South Korean launch is different from that of the North because it is more transparent, clearly focused on civilian applications and doesn’t contravene U.N. sanctions.
The development of the South Korean rocket program, using Russian technology for the first-stage launcher, began in 2002.
Seoul is aiming to develop its own thruster by 2021 through a program estimated to cost 1.5 trillion won (about $1.4 billion).
The successful launch puts South Korea among the small group of nations that have sent a rocket into space from their own soil. Others include the United States, Russia, China, Japan, France, India, Israel, Iran and North Korea.

So much for sanctions
I remember as a kid seeing a docudrama of the Pueblo incident and scared the hell out of me. The Ill dynasty are literally God kings of old here and now. Where the hell are the anthropologists?
As part of the agreement for the US to station forces in south Korea, they are forbidden by treaty with us from developing missiles with a range of more than 500 miles. (it used to be 186 miles….. ie: cant reach China).
That’s why they haven’t launched a satellite in the past.
No one is condemning them for using this as a ruse to test ballistic missiles.
It’s interesting that this story doesn’t mention their treaty limitations.
Israeli airstrike targeted convoy of trucks inside Syria
No one is condemning them for using this as a ruse to test ballistic missiles.
The same situation with Israeli nuclear weapons. Its an odd world. Like how they’re fighting Islamists in Mali while helping them in other places. I really don’t mind sharia law in Mali actually. All that dancing, singing, smoking and drinking which is allowed again now -- where has it got them?
Dear UN
We firmly believe that a nuclear N. Korea will be a catalyst for WWIII There fore we will neutralize all N. Korean military research facilities and missile bases. We believe our actions will forestall a global conflict. If the opposite is initiated all we have done is move the global conflict timetable forward which is to our immediate advantage.. We have stated our goal and motive and there will be no further explanation or communication other than the acceptance of help and support in this matter.
One for Iran also.
I understand that the progressive also has a working plan to forestall global conflict or any conflict for that matter. It begins with eliminating our Second Amendment.