South Korea plans to launch a domestically developed solid-fuel space rocket by 2024, officials said Thursday, and becoming one of just seven nations in the world with full launch capabilities.

According to the Defense Ministry, the state-run Agency for Defense Development(ADD) conducted a successful combustion test of a solid-propellant engine for a space rocket in July.

The rocket will carry a small, 500 kilogram reconnaissance satellite designed to watch over the Korean Peninsula.

The defense and science ministries said the rocket will launch from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province in 2024 after inspections of the main parts of the solid-engine space launch vehicle.

The defense ministry added that solid-fuel is more economical for placing small satellites into lower Earth orbit, and projected the demand for them to grow in the future. 

The ministry plans to transfer all the technologies related to small space launch vehicles to the civilian sector while providing technical support.