"Danuri" ("Enjoy the Moon") was launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday evening, local time (23:08 GMT).
South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said in the early hours of Saturday, local time, that the lunar orbiter had successfully entered its intended flight path to the moon and that the journey will take four and a half months.
After it enters the moon’s orbit in December, "Danuri", which was developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), will begin its year-long mission studying the lunar environment and terrain.
This is South Korea’s first space mission outside of Earth’s orbit.