Private South Korean rocket exploded last December due to hardware failure, investigation finds

South Korean startup Innospace launches its first Hanbit-Nano rocket from Alcantara Space Center in Brazil. The launch failed about a minute after liftoff.

South Korean startup Innospace says it knows what went wrong on its first-ever orbital launch attempt.

Innospace sent its Hanbit-Nano rocket skyward for the first time ever on Dec. 22, from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil. But the landmark flight — the first-ever orbital launch attempt by a South Korean company — didn't last long, as the Hanbit-Nano exploded less than a minute after leaving the pad.