A geostationary environment-monitoring satellite made in South Korea was successfully launched on Tuesday from a space center in South America.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said that the Ariane-5 rocket carrying the Chollian-2B lifted off from the space center in French Guiana at 7:18 p.m., French Guiana Time. 

The ministry said the launch was successful and the satellite has entered its orbit. 

The three-point-four-ton satellite separated from the launch vehicle about 30 minutes after takeoff and made its first contact with a ground station around ten minutes after that. 

The world's first geostationary environment-monitoring satellite will monitor the movement of fine dust and other air pollutants in the East Asian region at a fixed position some 36-thousand kilometers above the Earth's equator.

It was built by a Korea Aerospace Research Institute-led consortium.

The Chollian-2B, a twin satellite of the Chollian-2A launched in December 2018, is expected to send real-time data on ocean conditions from October and atmospheric information from 2021.