Kim Jong Un's space mission suffered a setback today when a rocket carrying its second spy satellite exploded in midair.
North KoreaThe US leader attempted to launch a second military satellite into orbit, an action banned by the United States United Nations.
The first military reconnaissance satellite was launched last November, as part of efforts to build a space-based surveillance network to counter what he viewed as US-led military threats. After this successful launch Kim Jong Un called it a “new era of space power.”
However, this was not the first successful attempt either.
Two previous attempts did also failedwith the first also crashing into the ocean shortly after take-off and the second experiencing an emergency jet system failure during the third stage flight.
Today the official state news agency said it had launched the satellite aboard a new rocket from the main space center, but added that the rocket exploded during a maiden flight shortly after launch due to a suspected engine problem.
Footage released by a Japanese TV broadcast showed a giant fireball in the sky shortly after launch. Before the launch, residents of the Japanese island Okinawa were urged to take shelter as part of a missile alarm, after prior warning from North Korea that the launch period would be between Monday and June 3. The alarm was withdrawn when it became clear that the missile would not fly over the islands.
South KoreaThe Army said it detected a launch trajectory believed to be from the satellite at 10:44 p.m. local time, but discovered fragments in the waters just four minutes later.
This launch came hours after South Korea's leaders China and Japan met in Seoul in their first trilateral meeting in more than four years. The move to take provocative military action was seen as highly unusual as China – North Korea's main ally and economic pipeline – is engaged in high-level diplomacy in the region.
The UN did North Korea banned from carrying out such launches – declaring them a violation of Security Council resolutions – and treating them as a cover for testing long-range missile technology. However, North Korea continued to insist that it had the right to launch satellites and rockets.
Analysts say the satellites are unlikely to provide the country with detailed intelligence, but could be useful for spying on things like troop movements. However, it is believed that North Korea is developing a larger rocket to launch a more capable satellite.