North Korea "Reconnaissance Satellite Launch Fails Again Due to Error... Will Try Again in October"

Failure Acknowledged in Second Launch Following Late May Attempt

North Korea officially announced that its second military reconnaissance satellite launched on the 24th has failed.

Korean Central News Agency reported at around 6:15 a.m. that day, "The National Aerospace Development Administration launched the reconnaissance satellite 'Manlilyeong-1' on the new satellite carrier rocket 'Chollima-1' from the West Sea Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, conducting the second launch."

Debris of the space launch vehicle 'Chollima-1' launched by North Korea using ballistic missile technology [Image source=Yonhap News]

It added, "The first and second stages of the new satellite carrier rocket Chollima-1 flew normally, but during the third stage flight, an error occurred in the emergency explosion system, resulting in failure." It further stated, "The National Aerospace Development Administration will clarify the cause of the abnormal operation of the emergency explosion system within a short period."

The agency also explained, "The cause of the accident is not believed to be a significant problem with the reliability of the stage actuators or the system itself. After thoroughly investigating the cause and taking countermeasures, the third reconnaissance satellite launch will be conducted in October." Earlier, North Korea fired one space launch vehicle southward from Dongchang-ri at around 3:50 a.m. that day. It was 85 days after the first launch failure on May 31.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.