Kwangmyŏngsŏng 3-2
Kwangmyongsong 3-2 ( brightly shining star 3-2 ) is probably the first satellite successfully placed in space by North Korea . The launch took place on December 12, 2012 from the Sohae Space Center . According to the North Korean government, it is an earth observation satellite with the tasks of observing arable land, forest resources and natural disasters. Its orbital time is 95 minutes and 25 seconds. The inclination of its orbit to the middle equatorial plane is 97.4 degrees, the apogee (point furthest from the earth) of the orbit 584.9 kilometers, the perigee (point closest to the earth) 492.5 kilometers.
History and reactions
After launches in 1998, 2006, 2009 and April 2012, during which, according to Western sources, the rockets exploded or flew hundreds of kilometers but did not reach orbit, the successful launch was greatly celebrated by the leadership of North Korea. Because of the potential ability of the Unha-3 missile used to carry North Korean nuclear warheads to distant targets, the launch was heavily criticized by South Korea , the USA and other countries.
See also
- Kwangmyŏngsŏng , predecessor satellite
Individual evidence
- ^ Document ST / SG / SER.E / 662 of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; Information Furnished in Conformity with the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space; Note verbale dated 22 January 2013 from the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary-General; Registration information for KWANGMYONGSONG 3-2 ( Memento from June 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) PDF file in en
- ↑ Josh Levs, CNN: N. Korea's launch causes worries about nukes, Iran and the Pacific , December 13, 2012 - Updated 2202 GMT (0602 HKT), accessed May 30, 2014