Tag: satellites

It is interesting that Kim Jong-un has come out and publicly acknowledged the failed satellite launch. I think this is probably because the Kim regime wants satellite launches to be viewed as a civilian action and being transparent about them supports that narrative:

North Korea’s leader acknowledged Monday’s failed attempt to place a spy satellite into orbit but vowed to work harder to boost his country’s space capabilities, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim Jong Un made the rare admission during a speech to scientists at the Academy of Defense Sciences in Pyongyang on Tuesday, the day after a rocket carrying the satellite exploded roughly two minutes after launch.

“This launch failed … but there is something that we need to clarify, whether it was successful or not,” he said, according to Wednesday’s KCNA report. “The possession of military reconnaissance satellites is necessary for our country to strengthen self-defense. “Through failure, we can learn more and develop in a bigger way,” he added.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Kim regime has big plans in 2024 and none of them involve improving the welfare of its citizens:

North Korea aims to launch three additional spy satellites and produce more nuclear weapons next year, as it is accelerating war readiness against various forms of U.S. military threats, Pyongyang’s state media said Sunday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set forth the goal as he wrapped up five days of the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“Based on the experience of successfully launching and operating the first spy satellite in 2023 in the space development sector, the task of launching three more spy satellites in 2024 was unveiled and all-out measures to spur the development of the space science technology were discussed,” the KCNA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is not a double standard because the ROK does not have UN sanctions against developing ballistic missiles. Plus it was a commercial Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX that put the ROK’s spy satellite into orbit. If North Korea would stop being a global pariah and become a responsible nation maybe they would have sanctions dropped to allow them to have their own peaceful space program:

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying South Korea’s first indigenous spy satellite lifts off from U.S. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 1, 2023 (local time), in this photo provided by SpaceX. (Yonhap)

North Korea on Monday denounced the United States for having a “double standard” over space programs, saying Washington helped South Korea with launching a military spy satellite, while condemning Pyongyang’s similar move.

South Korea successfully launched its first indigenous military spy satellite atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from a U.S. military base in California on Friday, after North Korea put its spy satellite Malligyong-1 into orbit on Nov. 21.

An unnamed spokesperson at North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration said the U.S. has a “double standard” over South Korea’s spy satellite, as it “brazenly” helped Seoul’s launch, while condemning Pyongyang’s exercise of its sovereign right.

“Coercing the brigandish standard of the U.S. even in the space realm, a treasure common to mankind, should never be permitted,” the official said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is what I have been saying, that North Korea’s claims of having all this amazing imagery of U.S. military installations is likely just propaganda unless the Russians went and built them their own satellite:

But South Korean military officials are voicing doubts about the satellite’s reconnaissance capabilities.

“Compared to previous attempts, it seems that the new satellite achieved its own technological progress to some extent,” a military official said.

“The North claims that it photographed U.S. aircraft carriers and naval bases in Hawaii just 10 hours after the launch. That is not impossible, but a proper operation of a military satellite requires months of testing, verification and correction. Given this, (the recent KCNA news reports) appear to be propaganda.”

The official said that the military had analyzed the debris of a satellite that the North failed to put in orbit in May, and it had limited operational capabilities and provided very poor resolution images. “It is highly questionable whether North Korea addressed these limitations in a short period,” the official added.

Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank, assumed that the satellite would be an entry-level optical one, based on KCNA’s description.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

North Korea must be confident they have fixed whatever issue plagued their last satellite launch and are ready to try again apparently over the next week:

North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between Thursday and Aug. 31, according to a Japanese news report, as the country seeks to put a spy satellite into orbit following its failure in May.

The North informed Japan’s coast guard of its plan to designate three maritime danger zones — two of which are west of the Korean Peninsula and the other is to the east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon, Japan’s Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

“The plan is believed to be a retry of a military reconnaissance satellite launch North Korea attempted in May, but that ended in failure,” it added.

The North launched its first military spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, on May 31. But the rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after an “abnormal starting” of the second-stage engine, according to the North’s state media.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I think this will be North Korea’s excuse to launch ICBM technology over neighboring countries by claiming they are satellite launches:

North Korea’s development of a high-thrust engine capable of carrying a rocket has provided a “sure guarantee” for the country to launch various satellites into orbit, according to state media Monday.

Pak Kyong-su, vice director of the National Aerospace Development Administration, made the remarks amid speculation the North is likely to put a military spy satellite into orbit by April.

In an interview by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the North’s accession to the international outer space treaty, Pak said the North has made “steady” progress in the work to develop “multi-functional and high-performance” satellites.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In a game of oneupmanship, the ROK has released a much higher resolution spy satellite photograph of Pyongyang than the one the North Koreans released of Seoul:

South Korea on Thursday released a photo of Pyongyang taken from one of its own satellites after North Korea published imagery of Seoul using what it claimed was a military spy satellite.

The color photo, taken with “land satellite No. 1,” clearly shows Kim Il-sung Square and its surrounding facilities, including a history museum, an art museum and a department store.

By contrast, the North Korean photo released Monday was in black and white, and barely showed the outlines of bridges across the Han River and a port in the western city of Incheon.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency said the camera fitted on the “test-piece satellite” built for military reconnaissance purposes had a resolution of 20 meters.

Experts here said a reconnaissance satellite must have a resolution of at least 0.5m, making the North’s equipment impossible to use for its stated purpose.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but give the North Koreans time and they will probably get a high resolution spy satellite eventually into orbit as well.

I guess we will see if this is North Korea’s post Winter Olympics provocation:

Speculation is mounting that North Korea is preparing a satellite launch, following reports on Monday by state media that the country is determined to “conquer space.”  
   
Yun Sun-yong, a member of the North’s National Science and Technology Commission, emphasized the country’s will to “conquer space” during a Monday radio broadcast aired by the state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Committee to mark the sixth anniversary of the launch of the Kwangmyongsong No. 4, an earth observation satellite the North launched in February 2016.  
   
“The path to conquer space will be continued today and tomorrow, and the heroic legend of juche Korea, which astounds the world, will be created anew continuously.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this will raise tensions because the U.S. and the West will claim that North Korea is testing ICBM technology with this launch.

This photo provided by KT Corp. on June 26, 2018, shows the booth of KT SAT, a satellite communications service provider, at CommunicAsia 2018 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, to promote the Mugunghwa-7 and other communication satellites. (Yonhap)