North Korea said Wednesday it launched a military spy satellite earlier in the day, but the launch failed due to an engine problem, vowing to conduct a second launch “as soon as possible.” The National Aerospace Development Administration launched a new-type rocket named “Chollima-1” carrying a military reconnaissance satellite at its rocket launching ground in North Phyongan Province at 6:27 a.m. (2127 Tuesday GMT), the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
But the carrier rocket “Chollima-1” fell into the Yellow Sea “after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine after the separation of the first stage during the normal flight,” the KCNA said.
The space agency attributed the failure to the low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system applied to carrier rocket and unstable character of the fuel used,” according to the report.
The North also said it would thoroughly investigate the serious defects revealed in the satellite launch, and vowed to “conduct the second launch as soon as possible through various part tests.” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said what the North claims to be a “space launch vehicle” fell into waters some 200 km west of the South’s southwestern island of Eocheong, after an “abnormal” flight, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
North Korea said Tuesday the planned launch of a spy satellite is “indispensable” to monitor “dangerous” military exercises by the US and South Korea in real time. The North notified Japan and the International Maritime Organization earlier this week of its plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.
A spy satellite is among the high-tech weapons systems that the North’s leader Kim Jong-un vowed to develop at a key party congress in 2021, along with a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and a nuclear-powered submarine.
Earlier this month, the North announced the completion of preparations to mount a spy satellite on a rocket, with Kim approving “the future action plan.” Pyongyang put Earth-observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, respectively. The North’s satellite launch would violate a series of UN Security Council resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programs, as it uses the same technology used in ballistic missiles.
Source: Kuwait News Agency