South Korea joined the stampede to the moon Thursday with the launch of a lunar orbiter that will scout out future landing spots.
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The satellite launched by SpaceX is taking a long, roundabout path to conserve fuel and will arrive in December.
If successful, it will join spacecraft from the US and India already operating around the moon, and a Chinese rover exploring the moon's far side.
India, Russia and Japan have new moon missions launching later this year or next, as do a slew of private companies in the US and elsewhere. And NASA is next up with the debut of its mega moon rocket in late August.
South Korea's $180 million mission − the country's first step in lunar exploration − features a boxy, solar-powered satellite designed to skim just 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface. Scientists expect to collect geologic and other data for at least a year from this low polar orbit.
It is South Korea's second shot at space in six weeks.
In June, South Korea successfully launched a package of satellites into orbit around Earth for the first time using its own rocket. The first try last fall fizzled, with the test satellite failing to reach orbit.
