Seoul: South Korea's first rocket launch failed to push a satellite into orbit but may still anger rival North Korea, coming just months after the communist nation's own launch drew international condemnation.

Vice Science Minister Kim Jung-hyun said on Wednesday that one of two covers for the satellite apparently failed to come off, making it drop back toward Earth.

The satellite is thought to have burned up while re-entering the atmosphere, he said.

The failure on Tuesday dealt a blow to Seoul's quest to become a regional space power.

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly spoke in support of South Korea, saying it has pledged to develop rockets for peaceful purposes only, and that there was no indication the launch was "in any way inconsistent with its international obligations and international commitments."

The launch was South Korea's first of a rocket from its own territory. It was a two-stage Naro rocket whose first stage was designed by Russia. It lifted off from South Korea's space center on Oenaro Island, south of Seoul.

The domestically built satellite was to observe the atmosphere and oceans.