The North’s space agency said it used the new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1 to put the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 into orbit. It said the flights of the rocket’s first and second stages were normal, but the launch eventually failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The National Aerospace Development Administration said it would make a third launch attempt in October after studying what went wrong with Thursday’s launch. The agency added that “the cause of the relevant accident is not a big issue in terms of the reliability of cascade engines and the system.”

[Embarrassing; this gets Kim all of the diplomatic blowback for no payoff at all. Normally you’d test new platforms first before putting valuable assets on top of them. Someone’s about to get a Kim Anti-Aircraft Gun Salute if they lose three in a row, or so one might suppose. — Ed]