Posts tagged Kwangmyongsong-3
More aviation warnings for rocket launch
Apr 1st
Air traffic control authorities in North and South Korea have issued warnings to aircraft associated with North Korea’s planned rocket launch in April.
The warnings follow a message issued last week by authorities in The Philippines concerning restrictions on airspace during the April 12th to 16th launch window.
North Korea’s authorities have closed a route that runs across the sky to the south of the Sohae launch facility between two navigation waypoints named “Bodok” and “Tomuk.” (see image)
The South Korean warning prohibits aircraft from flying within the first-stage drop zone, which was earlier identified by North Korean authorities (see embedded map, below).
Both warnings are More >
DPRK plans to show off satellite prior to launch
Mar 30th
International experts invited to North Korea to observe its planned Unha-3 rocket launch will get to see not just the launch but also the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite installed in the rocket, state media said on Thursday.
There has been much doubt expressed in the international community about whether the launch, planned to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, is anything more than a cover for a long-range missile test.
The country’s media has to-date failed to provide a photograph of the planned satellite. Even if they did it couldn’t be verified.
Should foreign experts and reporters get a close-up More >
More on North Korea’s ‘satellite’ mission
Mar 28th
North Korean state media provided a little more information on Wednesday about the mission of the satellite it plans to launch in early April — if the scheduled launch is a satellite mission at all.
Based on the country’s previous two rocket launches, the overwhelming view in the international community is that the rocket launch is nothing more than a test firing of a long-range ballistic missile.
If the rocket really is putting a satellite into space, that should become clear shortly after launch when radar and space tracking stations pick up the satellite on the way into orbit.
Whatever the truth, the Korean Central More >
Air traffic warned of rocket drop zone
Mar 22nd
Aircraft flying between The Philippines and Japan are being cautioned that three air routes cross the area in which part of North Korea’s Unha-3 rocket is expected to fall to land.
The area is identical to the “second stage falling area” that was notified to international maritime authorities earlier this week. The Unha-3 rocket is a two-stage design and one part is expected to drop into the sea to the west of South Korea with the other falling near The Philippines.
The air routes affected are A582, which goes from Jomalig island off the eastern coast of Mindanao to Japan’s Kyushu island via More >
Exclusive: North Korea’s expected rocket trajectory
Mar 21st
North Korea’s Unha-3 rocket, scheduled for launch next month, will drop to earth in two stages off the western coast of South Korea and to the east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, according to documents submitted by the country to the International Maritime Organization.
The documents, obtained by NorthKoreaTech.org, were sent to the IMO’s London headquarters from the DPRK’s embassy in the U.K. They carried the name of “Ko Nung Do,” who is identified as director general of the DPRK’s Maritime Administration.
Some of the information restates what has already been disclosed by the country: that the launch would take place More >
Exclusive: DPRK satellite to send data, video
Mar 20th
The International Telecommunication Union has received notification from North Korea of its planned satellite launch, the Geneva-based organization confirmed on Monday.
The DPRK’s launch notification says the “Kwangmyongsong-3″ satellite is scheduled for launch around April 12 to 16th, a spokesman for the U.N. organization said via e-mail.
It states the satellite is being launched in “pursuant of the State plan for space development,” which mirrors last week’s official announcement of the launch.
The satellite will broadcast remote data in the UHF band and video in the X-band, the ITU quoted the DPRK’s notification as saying.
Stamps of previous satellite launches
Mar 19th
North Korea has twice attempted to launch satellites into space in the past: once in 1998 and once in 2009. The success of the launches is an issue of debate — monitors, both governmental and amateur, never managed to detect signals from the 2009 satellite — but they were immortalized on two North Korean postage stamps.
The first is from 1998 and illustrates the August 31st launch of Kwangmyongsong-1.
The launch came during the country’s “arduous march,” a period of extreme famine in the country that is estimated to have killed between 900,000 and 3.5 million people. At the end of the year, North More >
Foreigners, media invited to satellite launch
Mar 19th
North Korea says it will invite international observers and foreign media to witness the upcoming launch of its Kwangmyongsong 3 satellite, state-run media said on Saturday.
The launch, which is due to take place between April 12 and 15, is expected to become one of the high points of the country’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung on April 15. The invitation of foreign observers to see the launch increases the pressure on North Korea to ensure the launch goes perfectly — a launch malfunction would be embarrassing for the country, especially if the foreign media is allowed More >
North Korea to launch satellite in April
Mar 16th
North Korea will launch a satellite in mid-April to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung, according to a Friday report on the state-run Korea Central News Agency.
The satellite will be called Kwangmyongsong-3 and will be launched between April 12 and April 16, the report said quoting a statement from the Korean Committee for Space Technology. A Unha-3 launched will be used.
Technicians plan to launch the satellite into a polar orbit, which means it won’t sit in one place in the sky like a TV satellite but will orbit the globe passing over multiple points. Exact details of More >
