South Korea launches first commercial-grade satellite

South Korea has launched a commercial-grade satellite for the first time as part of its growing space development programme. It comes as rival North Korea is pushing to put its first military spy satellite into orbit. The two Koreas, technically in a state of war, have no military reconnaissance satellites of their own and both are eager to possess them. The South Korean launch on Thursday will likely aid its efforts to develop a space-based surveillance system. The domestically built three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from a launch facility on a southern island with a payload of eight satellites, including…