South Korea Rocket Explodes After Second Attempt

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle Naro-1 blasts off from the Naro Space Center on June 10, in Goheung-gun, South Korea. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said it lost contact with the space rocket, shortly after liftoff. (Kim Ki-Nam-pool/Getty Images)

A second attempt by South Korea to put a satellite into orbit failed yesterday when the Naro-1 space rocket carrying the satellite exploded moments after takeoff.

“An inboard camera detected a bright flash of light at 137 seconds into the flight, which coincides exactly with the loss of communication,” said Minister of Education, Science and Technology Ahn Byong-man in a report by Korean news agency Yonhap.

Talks are underway with Russian experts who helped develop the rocket to determine the cause of failure said the report, and a third rocket launch is still being planned.

A previous launch of a Russian made rocket from South Korea on Aug. 25, 2009, also malfunctioned. The rocket that failed yesterday was made in South Korea according to Yonhap.

North Korea, a past critic of South Korean space missions, made no comment according to the Wall Street Journal.

North Korea claimed to have reached space with three of its own rockets but U.S. and other authorities said the rockets had not, and are being used as a front for missile testing according to reports by the BBC and Wall Street Journal.