North Korea’s launch of a satellite on Wednesday ended in failure, causing the booster and payload to plunge into the sea, North Korean state media reported. South Korean military said they had recovered parts of the launch vehicle. The new Chollima-1 satellite launch rocket failed due to instability in the engine and fuel system, state news agency KCNA reported. The flight was the country’s sixth satellite launch attempt with nuclear weapons and the first since 2016. It was supposed to put North Korea’s first spy satellite into orbit. This prompted emergency alerts and brief warnings of evacuations in parts of South Korea and Japan. The warnings were lifted with no danger or harm reported. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was conducting a salvage operation to recover what are believed to be parts of the space launch vehicle. The military shared photos of a large cylindrical object floating in the sea about 200 kilometers (km) off the west coast of Eocheongdo Island. George William Herbert, an adjunct professor at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies and a missile consultant, said the images showed at least part of a rocket, including an “interstage” section designed to connect to another stage. It is most likely a liquid-fueled rocket, and a round brown object inside is likely a propellant tank for fuel or oxidizer, Herbert added. Officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea held a phone call in which they “strongly condemned” the launch, Japan’s foreign ministry said. “The three countries will remain vigilant with a heightened sense of urgency,” the statement said. North Korea said it would launch its first military reconnaissance satellite between May 31 and June 11 to increase monitoring of US military activities. Last week, South Korea sent satellites into orbit with a domestically designed and produced rocket for the first time, and China sent three astronauts to its space station as part of its crew rotation on Tuesday. The North Korean rocket plunged into the sea “after losing thrust due to abnormal engine starting in the second stage”, KCNA said, in an unusual admission of a North Korean technical failure. Pyongyang’s National Aerospace Development Administration will investigate the “serious defects” and take steps to overcome them before conducting a second launch as soon as possible, according to KCNA. *Reproduction of this content is prohibited
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