South Korea's first space rocket blasted off today carrying a scientific satellite in a launch likely to provide a major boost to its nascent space programme.
However, South Korea later said it was unable to locate the satellite, which did not enter into the targeted orbit.
"We're trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the satellite," Korea Aerospace Research Institute President Lee Joo Jin said in a briefing televised live from the Naro Space Center.
The space centre will attempt to contact the satellite early tomorrow, he said.
The two-stage Naro-1 rocket measuring 33 metres long with a 100-kg payload lifted off from the country's space centre on its southern coast about 350km from Seoul.
Reuters
