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Launch plans indicate largely unchanged Unha 3 rocket
Rocket drop zones listed in maritime warnings issued by North Korea indicate its planned February satellite launch will take place on a rocket not dissimilar to the Unha-3 that it used on two previous launches in 2012. The drop zones are areas of the sea into which the first stage, second stage and satellite fairings will fall during…
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US would be OK with a North Korean satellite, but not a launch
The U.S. government says it doesn’t have a problem with North Korean satellites in space, just as long as they aren’t launched on North Korean rockets. That distinction could be important in coming months as North Korea moves towards attempting to put a second satellite into space. When North Korea last launched a satellite in December 2012, it…
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A new satellite and an old argument
North Korea’s space agency told the Associated Press last week that it is planning to launch another satellite. The satellite will be the fifth it has attempted to put in orbit. The first three launches were unsuccessful but the fourth, in December 2012, successfully placed a satellite into space, although the satellite appears to have malfunctioned.…
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NORAD says object ‘appeared to achieve orbit’
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, better known as NORAD, says it tracked the North Korean rocket launch and that it appears to have placed an object in orbit. Here’s the statement, issued out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, NORAD said: North American Aerospace Defense Command officials acknowledged today that U.S. missile warning systems…
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North Korean media claims launch success
North Korea’s state media has claimed success in its attempt to put a satellite in orbit. Here’s the KCNA bulletin that ran just after noon local time: The second version of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 successfully lifted off from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province by carrier rocket Unha-3 on Wednesday. The satellite…
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North Korea launches rocket
So much for delays, technical problems and bad weather. (And so much for satellite imagery analysis!) North Korea launched its rocket on Wednesday morning local time at a little before 10am in the morning, according to reports from regional governments. The missile was launched from the Sohae-ri launch facility, according to an immediate report from…
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Exclusive: Launch unlikely until December 21; weather challenges ahead
A NorthKoreaTech/38 North exclusive, with contributions by Nick Hansen and Michelle Kae New GeoEye satellite imagery from December 10 shows activity at North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Tongchang-ri) related to the removal of the Unha rocket from the launch pad, a process that is probably still underway and will not be completed before December…
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DPRK’s satellite launch might be delayed
A week after North Korea signaled the world that it planned to attempt a second rocket launch this year, the country has signaled it may delay that launch. The news came in a statement from the Korean Committee of Space Technology that was carried on Sunday by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, As announced, we are…
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Launch failure special news broadcast
North Korean TV ran a special news broadcast informing the country that the launch of the Kwangmyongsong 3 had failed to reach. The broadcast came several hours after the launch. which passed by when national TV was still yet to begin programming. When it did begin daily broadcasts, the TV station opened as usual and…
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What North Korea’s launch might look like
Based on information submitted by the DPRK to international organizations prior to launch, the folks at Analytical Graphics have produced a good-looking computer simulation of what the Unha-3 launch might look like. The simulation lacks of the most recent theories on the precise launch path, such as a slight dog-leg turn in the trajectory of the…
