Santa barbara: A South Korean Earth-observation satellite, launched from a U.S. space base in California, entered low-Earth orbit Sunday after being separated from the launch vehicle, according to authorities. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, at 11:59 p.m. Saturday (local time), carrying 45 payloads.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the satellite was separated from the launch vehicle about one hour after liftoff, as reported by the Korea AeroSpace Administration. The mission has been dubbed CAS500-2, after the primary satellite called Compact Advanced Satellite (CAS) 500-2 from Korea Aerospace Industries. This next-generation midsized satellite No. 2 was specifically developed for disaster monitoring and agricultural observation.

The satellite was expected to make its first communication with a ground station in Norway approximately 15 minutes after its separation from the launch vehicle. Originally, the CAS500-2 had been scheduled for launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2022, but the deployment was delayed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.