​South Korea launched its homegrown rocket, Nuri, into space at 6:24 p.m. on Thursday.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute(KARI) announced that the rocket lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province as scheduled.

The first-stage segment, the fairing and the second stage separated before reaching an altitude of 550 kilometers 13 minutes and three seconds after blastoff.

The eight satellites carried by the rocket then deployed in successive order every 20 seconds over two minutes, starting with the next-generation Small Satellite Number Two. Nuri completed its flight sequences 18 minutes and 58 seconds after leaving the ground.

The launch was initially scheduled for the same time on Wednesday, but it was called off three hours beforehand due to communication errors between a launch pad facility control computer and a launch control computer.

The issue was fixed after overnight efforts while keeping the rocket erected on the launch pad.

The ministry and KARI will announce whether the launch was a success some 90 minutes after liftoff based on initial contact with the satellites.