SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea succeeded in thrusting a satellite into orbit for the first time on Wednesday, joining an elite club of space technology leaders seven weeks after the successful launching of a satellite by its rival, North Korea.

South Korea has attached an intense national pride to the 140-ton, 108-foot-tall Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or KSLV-1, which was built with the help of Russian technology. Feeling behind China and Japan, both of which have successful space programs, South Korea has sought a technological prowess of its own.

That task gained more urgency after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Dec. 12 that put a satellite into orbit, after earlier failures. Only a handful of countries have succeeded in independently launching satellites into orbit, with Iran also recently joining the club. After studying the debris of the North Korean rocket, which splashed into South Korean waters, officials here determined that North Korea, despite its backward economy, had built key parts of its rocket.

With all major South Korean television stations broadcasting live, the two-stage rocket blasted off from the newly built Naro Space Center in Goheung, 200 miles south of Seoul.