North Korea: Second Satellite Launch Also Failed

North Korea’s second attempt to put a satellite into orbit did not succeed either. The Mulligan-1 military reconnaissance satellite was launched at dawn today with the help of the new Chollima-1 rocket.

According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, “The flight of the first and second stages of the rocket went normal, but the launch failed due to a malfunction in the emergency ignition system of the third stage. The cause of the accident is not a big problem, from the standpoint of the system engines’ reliability.”

The National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) also explained that it will try to repeat the launch in October, “after completing a thorough analysis of the causes and taking measures.”

The same fate befell the first launch in May, when a rocket fell into the Sea of Japan, prompting calls for evacuation of the population in parts of South Korea and Japan. Back then, according to Japanese sources, the rocket allegedly exploded, disintegrating into several parts that crashed into the sea and provoked an emergency on the island of Okinawa.

Both Japan and the USA condemned this new launch. The White House called it a “flagrant violation” of numerous UN Security Council resolutions and at the same time invited the “hermit state” to “sit down at the table of serious negotiations.”