SEOUL, October 21. /TASS/. South Korea launched its first ever Nuri carrier rocket from the Naro spaceport 470 km south of Seoul, the country’s Science and Technology Ministry reported on Thursday.

It will take slightly more than 16 minutes for the carrier rocket to deliver the payload into orbit, the ministry said.

The Nuri rocket weighs 200 tonnes. It is furnished with liquid propellant rocket engines - four thrusters on the first stage, one on the second stage and one on the third stage. The rocket is carrying a dummy payload weighing 1.5 tonnes that will be put into a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 600 to 800 km.

South Korean scientists have been developing the country’s first space launch vehicle since 2010. The government has earmarked 2 trillion South Korean won ($1.79 billion) for the project. In May 2022, the Nuri carrier rocket is set to deliver a 200 kg satellite into orbit.