South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket lifts off at the Naro Space Center in Goheung on June 21.

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)South Korea successfully launched satellites into orbit with its homegrown Nuri rocket on Tuesday, a significant step for the country's burgeoning space program after a failed attempt last year.

The three-stage rocket, more than 47 meters (154 feet) long and weighing 200 tons, was launched from the Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal region at 4 p.m. local time.

It was topped with five satellites that will carry out Earth observation missions, such as monitoring the atmosphere, for up to two years, as well as a 1.3-ton dummy satellite, according to the country's Science Ministry.

"The road from South Korea to space has opened now," said President Yoon Suk Yeol after the launch. "It's the fruit of the difficult challenges of the past 30 years. Now, our Korean people and our young people's dream and hope will reach toward space."

Prior to South Korea's mission on Tuesday, only Russia, the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and India had developed a space launch vehicle capable of carrying a satellite weighing more than 1 ton, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

South Korea first tried to launch a dummy satellite with the Nuri rocket last October. The attempt failed when the rocket's third-stage engine shut down and the dummy satellite failed to reach low Earth orbit.

-- Courtesy of CNN