North Korea missile shows sign of satellite payload

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The missile North Korea is expected to launch as soon as this weekend appears to have a bulb-shaped nose cone consistent with a satellite payload, rather than a warhead, U.S. defence officials said on Tuesday.

A commercial satellite image of the Musudan-ri missile test site showed a Taepodong-2 missile with a bulb-shaped payload cover, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The image was posted March 29 on the Web site of the Institute for Science and International Security, or ISIS, a Washington-based group devoted to informing the public on security issues including nuclear weapons.

The bulb shape is similar to the current nose cone standard for military and commercial satellite launches, concluded officials including analysts at the U.S. Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Centre in Dayton, Ohio.

The same design is used by the United States, Russia, China and the European Space Agency, the analysts said.

North Korea said it will launch a satellite into space April 4-8 and issued a notice to mariners about potentially hazardous conditions in the North Pacific between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. British time each day beginning on Saturday.

One official said the bulb shape gives credence to North Korea's contention that it intends to launch a satellite. The nose of a missile with a warhead design would be more likely to be cone-shaped.

North Korea is under mounting international pressure over the launch plan because neighbouring countries and the United States view it as the test of a ballistic missile capable of reaching Hawaii. A Taepodong-2 test in 2006 failed.