Seoul, Aug 26 (DPA) South Korea's first domestically launched satellite failed to maintain orbit following technical problems and was likely destroyed in the atmosphere when it fell back to earth, government officials said Wednesday.

The satellite was lost shortly after Tuesday's launch when one of the two fairings covering it failed to fall off, increasing its weight and affecting navigation systems, the Yonhap news agency quoted the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as saying.

The rocket overshot its orbit, the report said. By the time the second fairing fell off, the rocket had slowed to 6.2 km per second, well below the 8 km per second a satellite needs to stay in orbit, deputy minister Kim Jung Hyun said.

South Korea would have been the 10th country to launch an artificial satellite into space from its own territory.

Russia was involved in the construction of the rocket, which cost 503 billion won ($402 million).