South Korea announced the successful launch of its indigenously developed Nuri rocket on Tuesday, a major step forward in Seoul’s ambitions to enter into a global space race that experts say North Korea could use as further justification to accelerate its own rocket development.

The Nuri, also known as the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II (KSLV-II), was launched from the country’s Naro Space Center on the southern coast and successfully deployed satellites at its target altitude of 700 kilometers, according to a press release and a briefing from Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday.