A Korean Earth observation satellite has successfully entered low-Earth orbit following its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, the country's space agency said. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the next-generation midsized satellite No. 4 lifted off at 12:12 a.m. Tuesday (California local time), or 4:12 p.m. Tuesday (KST), as part of the Transporter-17 rideshare mission, which carried 81 payloads. The satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle at around 6:42 p.m. Tuesday, about two hours and 30 minutes after liftoff. The satellite then succeeded in making its first communication with the Svalbard ground station in Norway about 23 minutes later, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). The space agency said the launch marked a "significant" achievement in expanding Korea's private-led satellite development capabilities. "By independently securing satellite imagery and data needed for agriculture, forestry, climate and disaster response, we have significantly strengthened the competitiveness of our private-led satellite industry an