North Korea says rocket carrying satellite exploded mid-flight
Al Jazeera
Pyongyang says its attempt to put another spy satellite into orbit ends in failure, according to state news agency KCNA.
North Korea has said its attempt to put a second spy satellite into orbit failed when the rocket it was on exploded.
The admission came late on Monday after South Korea’s military reported the launch of an “unidentified projectile”.
“The launch of the new satellite carrier rocket failed when it exploded in mid-air during the flight of the first stage,” the deputy director general of North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration said in a report carried by state media.
An initial analysis suggested that the cause was a newly developed liquid fuel rocket motor, but other possible causes were being investigated, the report said.
Officials in South Korea and Japan had said earlier that the launch appeared to have failed.
