The military will continue developing the nation's first homegrown solid-fuel space rocket with the objective of launching a small satellite into low Earth orbit(LEO), following its successful test-launch last week.

An unnamed official from a research institute under the defense ministry said on Monday that Seoul aims to fire the solid-fuel launch vehicle from the Naro Space Center in the southwestern county of Goheung by around the year 2025.

The rocket is expected to carry a 500-kilogram experimental satellite up to an LEO range of 500 kilometers in altitude.

Last Wednesday's successful test comes one year after Washington agreed to lift missile guideline restrictions that had prohibited Seoul from developing or owning ballistic missiles with a maximum range exceeding 800 kilometers.

The defense ministry at the time said the test marked an important milestone in enhancing the nation's space reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, coming at a time when North Korea is raising its testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles and what it termed its spy satellite program.