South Korea's Compact Advanced Satellite CAS500-2 has successfully reached low-Earth orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) confirmed. The 534-kilogram satellite, built largely with domestically developed technology and designed for disaster monitoring and agricultural observation, established first contact with a ground station in Norway roughly 15 minutes after separating from the rocket. The launch — delayed from 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted an originally planned Soyuz rocket deployment — is seen as a significant step in South Korea's push for greater independence in space technology and the development of a privately led space industry.