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Kwangmyongsong-4 () was a satellite launched by
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
on 7 February 2016. The launch happened after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on 6 January and as the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
was deciding on sanctions to be placed on the country following the nuclear test. The launch was also timed to celebrate the 74th birthday of the late leader
Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...
on February 16.


Pre-launch

On 2 February 2016, North Korea sent a notification to the
International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...
stating that the country was going to launch a Kwangmyongsong Earth observation satellite with a launch window of 8–25 February between 22:30 UTC and 03:30 UTC given. The notification also included the drop zones for the first stage, the payload fairing and the second stage of the rocket, which was similar to the areas designated for the launch of Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2. On 6 February 2016, North Korea sent another notification to the International Maritime Organization stating that the launch window had been changed to 7–14 February.


Launch

The satellite was launched on 7 February 2016 at 00:30 UTC into roughly a
Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
well suited for an
Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...
, using an
Unha The Unha (, "Galaxy") is a North Korean expendable launch system, expendable launch vehicle, carrier rocket, which partially utilizes the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 orbital launch system. History North Korea's first orbital space ...
launch vehicle at Sohae Space Centre in Cholsan County,
North Pyongan Province North Pyongan Province (also spelled North P'yŏngan; ; ) is a western provinces of North Korea, province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Pyongan Province, P'yŏng'an Province, remained a pro ...
. Regarded as sending a message to both neighboring
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
as well as the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the launch also took place on the eve of the
Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...
and the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
in
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.North Korea's 'successful' satellite in orbit
- ARS Technica, 2/10/2016, 12:41 AM
It was initially claimed by U.S. officials that the satellite was "tumbling in orbit" and that no signals had yet been detected being transmitted from it. However, it was later reported the tumbling had been brought under control and the orbit stabilized. This indicates that the satellite has established communication with North Korea. The head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command stated that Kwangmyongsong-4 was almost twice as large as Kwangmyongsong-3, and South Korean officials estimated the mass as . On 22 February 2016, Russian news agency
TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...
reported the statement by Colonel Andrei Kalyuta of Russia's National Space Monitoring Center that, based on the orbit of the satellite, it was in line with the declared purpose. Satellite tracker and astronomer for Leiden Observatory Marco Langbroek captured images of the satellite on 28 February; on examining long exposure images, the satellite was either not tumbling or in a very slow tumble. This was also evident by the stability of the brightness of the Sun's reflection when the satellite passed the camera frame. Bob Christy of Zarya website shared results of observing orbital periods of the satellite, it indicated the satellite was not tumbling and was under control as controlled reduction in altitude of the orbit was detected. North Korea Tech, an affiliate of
38 North ''38 North'' is a website devoted to analysis about North Korea. Its name refers to the 38th parallel north which passes through the Korean peninsula and from 1945 until the start of the Korean War in 1950 divided the peninsula into North and So ...
, reported on findings made by Langbroek and Christy. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Jonathan Mcdowell concluded satellite was at least partially operational based on visual information and observation of the satellite's gravity boom being deployed.


Post-launch

North Korea registered the satellite with the
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory fram ...
on 9 May 2016. In addition to claiming North Korea was planning a Moon mission, Hyon Kwang-il, director of the scientific research department at NADA, said the satellite had completed 2,513 orbits and had transmitted 700 photographic images in the day following its launch. The satellite passed over North Korea four times a day and transmitted data on each pass. However, international experts, such as astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, have not confirmed any transmissions from the satellite. The satellite decayed from orbit on 30 June 2023.


Reactions

The North Korean government organized a fireworks display on 7 February 2016, in commemoration of the launch. South Korea, Japan, the United States and other countries have accused North Korea of testing a ballistic missile (Unha is the satellite launch version of
Taepodong-2 The Taepodong-2 (TD-2, also spelled as Taep'o-dong 2)
Federation of American Scientists, May 30, 2008
() is a ...
) capable of hitting the United States. However, some experts at the time believed North Korea was still a decade away from having the capability to successfully deliver a nuclear weapon by means of an
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
(ICBM), and the launch showed slow, but continuous, progress. The director of the U.S.
Missile Defense Agency The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is a component of the Federal government of the United States, United States government's United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense responsible for developing a comprehensive Missile defense, defe ...
stated the launch was not a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch was strongly condemned by the
UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
. It prompted
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to announce that they would explore the possibility of deploying Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), an advanced missile defence system, in South Korea, which is strongly opposed by
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.


Notes


See also

*
2016 in spaceflight Several new rockets and spaceports began operations in 2016. Overview Russia inaugurated the far-Eastern Vostochny Cosmodrome on 28 April 2016 with a traditional Soyuz-2.1a flight, before expanding it for the Angara (rocket family), Angar ...
* List of North Korean missile tests


References


External links


Live time satellite tracking
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwangmyongsong-4 Reconnaissance satellites Space program of North Korea Spacecraft launched in 2016 2016 in North Korea