North Korean media has released two images showing the new launchpad used in the nation’s unsuccessful first attempt to place a military surveillance satellite in space this week.
The images were published alongside an official statement by Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which pledged that efforts to launch the satellite will continue unabated.
“It is certain that the DPRK's military reconnaissance satellite will soon start its mission on a space orbit,” she stated, using a shorthand for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In response to allegations by US officials that the launch contravened UN sanctions, Yo Jong maintained that “no one vested the US with the authority to take issue with the sovereign right of a specified state” and said that North Korea is “ready to do whatever to defend our sovereign right and interests.”
Experts interviewed by a vehemently anti-North Korean outlet described the launchpad as using static electric arms, which Russia reportedly also uses for its launches.
One said the launchpad’s construction was unusually fast compared to the timeframe that might be expected in other countries.
A senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Dave Schmerler, called the quick construction “impressive.” Schmerler reportedly identified the launchpad after construction began in late April, and workers are said to have wrapped up the project’s finishing touches in recent weeks.
A spokesperson of North Korea's space agency said the failed launch is believed to have been caused by a new engine system in the “Chollima-1” rocket and the instability of the fuel used, according to state media.