SEOUL (Reuters) -&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea appears to be preparing for its second attempt at launching a reconnaissance&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;this year, a move that may prove as&nbsp;controversial&nbsp;as the nuclear-armed country's weapons tests.
A May 31 attempt -&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;first such launch since 2016 - ended in fiery failure when its new Chollima-1 rocket crashed into the sea.
North&nbsp;Korea told Japan on Tuesday that it would launch a&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;between Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, its second such attempt this year, prompting criticism from Japan and&nbsp;South Korea.
Here's what we know about&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;race for space, and&nbsp;why&nbsp;it's&nbsp;so&nbsp;controversial:
SPACE AMBITIONS
Since 1998&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea has launched six&nbsp;satellites, two of which appeared to have been successfully placed in orbit, the last one in 2016.
International observers said the&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;seemed to be under control, but there was lingering debate over whether it had sent any transmissions.
Experts said that&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea had used a three-stage rocket booster like the Unha-3 of previous&nbsp;launches, but that a new launch pad was clearly built for a larger rocket.
A senior official at&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;space agency said after the launch that it planned to put more advanced&nbsp;satellites into orbit by 2020 and eventually "plant the flag of (North&nbsp;Korea) on the moon".
During a party congress in January 2021, leader Kim Jong Un revealed a wish list that included developing military reconnaissance&nbsp;satellites.
The Chollima-1 seems to be a new design and most likely uses the dual-nozzle liquid-fuelled engines developed for Pyongyang&rsquo;s Hwasong-15 ICBM, analysts said.
South Korea has recovered&nbsp;some of the Chollima-1 wreckage - including, for the first time, parts of a&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;- but has not released detailed findings. Seoul said the&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;had little military value.
DUAL-USE TECHNOLOGY
The United States and its allies called&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;latest tests of&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;systems clear violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit any development of technology applicable to&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's&nbsp;ballistic missile programs.
North&nbsp;Korea has said its space program and defence activities are its&nbsp;sovereign right.
At the time of the 2016 space launch,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea had yet to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;launch was condemned by governments in the United States and&nbsp;South Korea as a disguised test of missile technology capable of striking the continental United States.
Since 2016,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea has developed and launched three types of ICBMs, and now appears committed to placing working&nbsp;satellites in space. That would not only provide it with better intelligence on its enemies, but prove it could keep up with other growing space powers in the region, analysts said.
North&nbsp;Korea could use such&nbsp;satellites to more effectively target&nbsp;South Korea and Japan or conduct damage assessments during a war, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On the other hand, if&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea can verify, with its own&nbsp;satellites, that the United States and its allies are not about to attack, it might reduce tensions and provide stability, he added.
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(Reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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