North Korea's Second Satellite Launch Fails

North Korea has suffered its second satellite launch failure this year, after its Chollima-1 rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite suffered an anomaly during the third stage of its flight on Wednesday (Aug. 23).

The launch attempt came just days after North Korean officials told the Japanese Coast Guard that it was planning a liftoff this week. Warnings about the launch were issued to Japanese citizens, who were instructed to take shelter as the rocket flew over islands near Okinawa.

This latest failure comes nearly two months after North Korea lost its first Malligyong-1 satellite into the Yellow Sea due to an unknown launch anomaly. The country's National Aerospace Development Administration announced it will make a third attempt in October after it analyzes this latest failure.

The South Korean government claims many of the technologies that North Korea used to design its spy satellite were stolen by hacking groups. Protecting sensitive spaceflight technologies from cyberattacks and theft has become a pressing issue worldwide; just this month, the United States' National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) issued a bulletin advising private space companies of the threat of intellectual property theft and cyberattacks.

The failed launch comes as the militaries of the United States and South Korea engage in military exercises designed as a show of strength and stability in the face of an increasingly aggressive North. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden also met this month to discuss a three-way security agreement aimed at strengthening alliances to counter the obstinate North Korean government and its pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

North Korea successfully placed a satellite into orbit in 2016 to coincide with the 74th birthday of the nation's late leader Kim Jong-Il, the second supreme leader who ruled from 1994 to 2011. The spacecraft, an Earth-observation satellite called Kwangmyongsong-4, decayed and fell from orbit on June 30, 2023.

The latest launch failure is a setback for North Korea's space program, which is seen as a way for the country to develop long-range missile technology. It is also a reminder of the challenges that North Korea faces in developing its own advanced technologies.