The Ministry of Science and ICT confirmed on Tuesday that a small South Korean satellite launched from a U.S. air base entered orbit successfully and is now operating normally. 

South Korea's Next Sat-1 was among 64 satellites launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California earlier in the day. They were deployed into the Earth's orbit carried by the Falcon 9 rocket of U.S. private spaceflight company SpaceX. 

The Next Sat-1, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, will undergo a test operation for three months before beginning its official mission in February next year. 

The small satellite weighs 100 kilograms and is tasked with measuring space radiation and observing stars' infrared rays for the next two years.