North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is said to have ordered the country’s space agency to prepare to test-launch a rocket carrying a satellite in October to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding the Workers’ Party of Korea.
 
Japan’s Kyodo News said Monday that it was told by two Japanese government sources that Kim earlier this year instructed the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) to implement the project, which is presumed to be a test-launch for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
 
The North’s official Central News Agency reported on May third that while inspecting the NADA’s newly built General Satellite Control and Command Center, Kim stressed the importance of space development projects.