North Korean Rocket Carrying 2nd Spy Satellite Explodes After Launch

A rocket launched by North Korea to deploy the country’s second spy satellite exploded shortly after liftoff, state media reported, in a setback for leader Kim Jong Un’s hope to operate many satellites to better monitor the US and South Korea, Hyung-Jin Kim, Kim Tong-Hyung, and Mari Yamaguchi reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Video footage provided by South Korea’s military and Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed the rocket breaking up in a fireball after its launch on Monday night. I Photo: KCNA

Video footage provided by South Korea’s military and Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed the rocket breaking up in a fireball after its launch on Monday night.

Debris from the rocket landed in waters off North Korea’s west coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. North Korea’s official media said, “The launch failed due to the air blast of the new-type satellite carrier rocket during the first-stage flight,” Jon Herskovitz, Soo-Hyang Choi, and Go Onomitsu reported for Bloomberg News.

Seoul claims Kim received Russian technical assistance for that launch, in return for sending containers of weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

But its attempt Monday to launch the "Malligyong-1-1" reconnaissance satellite ended in failure after it "exploded in the air during the first flight stage and failed to launch," the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration said, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reported.