posted 02-15-2009 10:58 PM               

North Korea suggested Monday it is preparing a rocket launch, claiming the country has the right to "space development" — a term Pyongyang has used in the past to disguise a long-range missile test as a satellite launch.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency made the suggestion on the 67th birthday of leader Kim Jong Il, and accused the United States and other countries of trying to block the country's "peaceful scientific research" by linking it to a long-range missile test.

"One will come to know later what will be launched" from North Korea, KCNA said, claiming that "hostile forces spread the rumor about" the country's "preparations for launching a long-distance missile."

posted 03-12-2009 08:54 AM               

North Korea has informed an international organization on shipping safety that it will fire a rocket carrying a "satellite" between April 4-8, an intelligence source here said Thursday.

"North Korea informed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of its plan to launch the Kwangmyongsong-2 between April 4-8," the source told Yonhap News Agency.

posted 03-25-2009 01:18 PM               

North Korea is loading a Taepodong rocket on its east coast launch pad in anticipation of the launch of a communications satellite early next month, U.S. officials say.

U.S. counterproliferation and intelligence officials have confirmed Japanese news reports of the expected launch between April 4 and 8.

...analysts have been watching for signs of a satellite or missile on the launch pad in Musudan-ni, the northeast coastal launch site. Satellite imagery from March 16 showed progress toward mounting a rocket, with a crane hovering over the launch pad, said Christian LeMiere, an editor at Jane's Intelligence Review in London.

He said that once mounted, scientists would need at least a week to fuel and carry out tests before any launch. Images from earlier this month did not indicate the rocket or missile had been mounted, he said Wednesday.

posted 04-04-2009 09:54 PM               

North Korea fired off a multistage rocket from a base along its east coast on Sunday, a senior South Korean foreign ministry official confirmed.

The blast-off occurred at around 11:30 a.m. and seems to have flown over Japan, the official told Yonhap News Agency, asking not to be named.

South Korea's presidential office confirmed North Korea launched its long-range rocket 15 seconds past 11:30 a.m. Sunday, but said it was too early to call the launch a success.

posted 04-04-2009 10:08 PM               

A top South Korean government official said North Korea's rocket appears to have carried a satellite but Seoul is still checking whether a satellite has been put in orbit.

"We believe North Korea fired a rocket carrying a satellite," the official told Yonhap News Agency. "However, it does not necessarily mean that the launch was a success."

posted 04-05-2009 10:07 AM               

Scientists and technicians of the DPRK (North Korea) have succeeded in putting satellite Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, into orbit by means of carrier rocket Unha-2 under the state's long-term plan for the development of outer space.

Unha-2, which was launched at the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province at 11:20 (0220 GMT) on April 5, accurately put Kwangmyongsong-2 into its orbit at 11:29:02, nine minutes and two seconds after its launch.

The satellite is going round the earth along its elliptic orbit at the angle of inclination of 40.6 degrees at 490 km perigee and 1,426 km apogee. Its cycle is 104 minutes and 12 seconds.

Mounted on the satellite are necessary measuring devices and communications apparatuses.

The satellite is going round on its routine orbit.

It is sending to the earth the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans 'Song of General Kim Il-sung' and 'Song of General Kim Jong-il' and measured information at 470 MHz. By the use of the satellite the relay communications is now underway by UHF frequency band.

The satellite is of decisive significance in promoting the scientific researches into the peaceful use of outer space and solving scientific and technological problems for the launch of practical satellites in the future.

Carrier rocket Unha-2 has three stages.

The carrier rocket and the satellite developed by the indigenous wisdom and technology are the shining results gained in the efforts to develop the nation's space science and technology on a higher level.

The successful satellite launch is symbolic of the leaping advance made in the nation's space science and technology was conducted against the background of the stirring period when a high-pitched drive for bringing about a fresh great revolutionary surge is under way throughout the country to open the gate to a great prosperous and powerful nation without fail by 2012, the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il-sung, under the far-reaching plan of leader Kim Jong-il.

This is powerfully encouraging the Korean people all out in the general advance.

posted 04-05-2009 10:15 AM               

North Korea failed to send a satellite into space, South Korea and the United States said Sunday, declaring no object entered orbit.

North Korea said earlier in the day that it has succeeded in orbiting a communications satellite after launching a rocket from a launch pad on its east coast.

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee disputed the claim, telling a National Assembly hearing that the three-stage rocket failed to put anything in orbit.

NORAD and USNORTHCOM monitor North Korean launch

North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday which passed over the Sea of Japan/East Sea and the nation of Japan.

Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean.

No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan.

NORAD and USNORTHCOM assessed the space launch vehicle as not a threat to North America or Hawaii and took no action in response to this launch.

This is all of the information that will be provided by NORAD and USNORTHCOM pertaining to the launch.

posted 04-08-2012 09:39 PM               

The rocket would propel the Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star) satellite into orbit to observe the earth and collect data on forests and natural resources in impoverished but nuclear-armed North Korea, officials said.

We are visiting the launch site and other mission preparation facilities, we're taking photographs and videos, and our hosts will try to convince the world through us of the reality of the "peaceful satellite" that is mounted atop the Unha-3 booster at the Koreans' new launch site in the far northwestern corner of the country.

The fact that the North Koreans are looking for this kind of outside verification is a welcome sign. Yet even now, progress remains slow. The launch is only days away, but until now there have been no photographs or even drawings of the satellite whose existence we are supposed to validate.

posted 04-11-2012 01:29 AM            

The satellite that North Korean officials say will be launched with the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, is shown to the media at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on April 8.

posted 04-11-2012 05:17 AM               

The satellite looks remarkably similar to South Korea's first satellite, which was launched in 1992, but there's no way to tell what it's actual capabilities might be, says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a rocket enthusiast. The one thing McDowell is sure of is that it would make a lousy spy satellite. "We're talking kilometre or, at best, hundred-metre resolution," he says. In other words, they would be better off doing their spying on Google Earth.

posted 04-12-2012 09:17 PM               

Despite the failure of its attempted missile launch, North Korea's provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments. While this action is not surprising given North Korea's pattern of aggressive behavior, any missile activity by North Korea is of concern to the international community. The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations, and is fully committed to the security our allies in the region.

The President has been clear that he is prepared to engage constructively with North Korea. However, he has also insisted that North Korea live up to its own commitments, adhere to its international obligations and deal peacefully with its neighbors.

North Korea is only further isolating itself by engaging in provocative acts, and is wasting its money on weapons and propaganda displays while the North Korean people go hungry. North Korea's long-standing development of missiles and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not brought it security — and never will. North Korea will only show strength and find security by abiding by international law, living up to its obligations, and by working to feed its citizens, to educate its children, and to win the trust of its neighbors.

posted 04-13-2012 06:43 AM               

DPRK's Satellite Fails to Enter Its Orbit

The DPRK launched its first application satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province at 07:38:55 a.m. on Friday.

The earth observation satellite failed to enter its preset orbit.

Scientists, technicians and experts are now looking into the cause of the failure.

posted 12-12-2012 03:50 AM               

The Unha-3 rocket lifted off just before 10 a.m. local time, and was detected heading south by a South Korean destroyer patrolling the Yellow Sea. Japanese officials said the first rocket stage fell into the Yellow Sea west of the Korean Peninsula; a second stage fell into the Philippine Sea hundreds of miles farther south.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, later confirmed that North Korea did appear to have put an object into space. "Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," NORAD said in a statement.

About two hours after the launch, North Korea's state media proclaimed it a success, prompting dancing in the streets of the capital. State media called it a "momentous event" in the country's scientific development.

posted 12-13-2012 10:51 AM               

The satellite launched by North Korea on Wednesday (Dec. 12) is "tumbling out of control," according to U.S. officials, NBC News reported.

The vehicle is in an uncontrolled orbit around Earth, and officials aren't sure what the spacecraft's purpose and capabilities are, NBC News reported.

posted 12-21-2012 11:02 PM               

Last week, North Korea finally managed to put an object into orbit around the Earth after 14 years of trying. The event was greeted with hysterical headlines, about how the whole thing was a likely a missile test and most certainly a failure of Western intelligence. Most of those headlines were dead wrong.

There are many questions yet to be answered about this launch and what it means. Some of them will take weeks or months to determine, others may never be answered satisfactorily. But there’s enough information already in the public domain to answer basic questions about the launch. News flash: Most of the initial reports about it were total misfires.

posted 01-22-2013 09:08 AM               

South Korea's military has analyzed pieces of the debris from the three-stage rocket, including a fuel tank that were salvaged in the Yellow Sea.

A military official says some of the parts appear to have been imported from five countries including China.

The official did not specify which part came from China but indicated the item bore Chinese writing.

posted 02-06-2016 08:23 PM               

North Korea launched a long-range missile at around 9:30 a.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that it is tracking the rocket's fight path.

It said there has been no reported damage from rocket debris or other parts in South Korean territory.

The communist country has said the launch will put an earth observation satellite into orbit, but the outside world views it as cover for testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. The North is banned from launching a rocket using ballistic missile technology under a series of relevant U.N. resolutions.

The North has warned that the rocket's first stage is expected to fall into the West Sea, the fairing into the East China Sea and the second stage in the Philippine Sea.

U.S. Strategic Command systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch into space at 6:29 p.m. CST.

The missile was tracked on a southerly launch over the Yellow Sea.

NORAD determined that at no time was the missile a threat to North America. The men and women of USSTRATCOM, NORAD AND USNORTHCOM, AND USPACOM remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security.

posted 08-04-2016 09:42 AM               

An unmanned, no-frills North Korean moon mission in the not-too-distant future isn't as far-fetched as it might seem. Outside experts say it's ambitious, but conceivable. While the U.S. is the only country to have conducted manned lunar missions, other nations have sent unmanned spacecraft there and have in that sense planted their flags.

"It would be a significant increase in technology, not one that is beyond them, but you have to debug each bit," Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains an exhaustive blog on international satellites and satellite launches, said in an email to the AP.

Hyon said the current five-year plan, at the order of leader Kim Jong Un, focuses on launching more Earth observation satellites and what would be its first geostationary communications satellite — which, technologically, would be a major step forward. He said universities are also expanding programs to train rocket scientists.

"We are planning to develop the Earth observation satellites and to solve communications problems by developing geostationary satellites. All of this work will be the basis for the flight to the moon," Hyon said on July 28, adding that he personally would like to see that happen "within 10 years' time."

posted 07-24-2018 12:28 AM            

The July 20 [satellite] images showed work at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station to dismantle a building used to assemble space-launch vehicles and a nearby rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles, the 38 North think tank said.