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The Kwangmyŏngsŏng program was a class of experimental satellites developed by North Korea. The name Kwangmyŏngsŏng ("bright star", "brilliant star" or "constellation" in Korean) is from a poem written by Kim Il Sung. The first class of satellites built by North Korea, the program started in the mid-1980s. There have been five launches so far, of which two have been successful.

Background

According to North Korea Academy of Science's Academician Kwon Tong-hwa, the SLV was developed in the 1980s when late leader Kim Il Sung announced the decision to launch a North Korean satellite.

The decision to send a North Korean satellite was precipitated by the successful launching of South Korea's first satellite, Uribyol-1, on 10 August 1992 and its second satellite, Uribyol 2, on 26 September 1993, both by a European Ariane 4 SLV. In a late-1993 meeting of the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, Kim Il Sung expressed his desire to quickly place a satellite into orbit, leading to the expansion of North Korea's nascent space program and the requirement for a space launch vehicle.

First orbital launch attempt

The official Korean Central News Agency announced on 4 September 1998, Juche 87, that a satellite called Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 had been launched at 3:07 UTC on 31 August from a launch site in Musudan-ri, Hwadae-gun, North Hamgyong Province by a Paektusan-1 satellite launch vehicle (SLV). No objects were ever tracked in orbit from the launch, and outside North Korea it is considered to have been a failure.

United States Space Command reported that the satellite failed to reach orbit, and burned up in the atmosphere. The failure is believed to have occurred during the third stage burn.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il revealed that the country had spent approximately 200–300 million dollars for the satellite project during a summit with then-South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung in 2000.

Second orbital launch attempt

Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was a satellite launched by North Korea on 5 April 2009. According to the North Korean government, an Unha-2 rocket carrying the satellite was launched on Sunday 5 April 2009 at 11:20 local time (02:20 UTC) from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground at Musudan-ri in northeastern North Korea. However, officials in South Korea and the United States reported that the rocket and any payload had fallen into the Pacific Ocean. The Russian Space Control concurred, stating that the satellite "simply is not there".

Prior to the launch, concern was raised by other nations, particularly the United States, South Korea and Japan, that the launch might be a trial run of technology that could be used in the future to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch of the rocket was sharply condemned by the United States and the European Union, while the People's Republic of China and Russia urged restraint.

Third launch attempt

Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 was a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite that North Korea tried to launch 13 April 2012 from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Cholsan County in northwestern North Korea. The satellite was to be lifted by a Unha-3 carrier rocket. The satellite launch was timed to coincide with the centenary of Kim Il Sung's birth. The rocket broke up a minute after its launch and the remains fell into the ocean.

Fourth launch attempt

On 1 December 2012, the Korean Central News Agency said that the Korean Committee for Space Technology announced that it would launch a second version of Kwangmyongsong-3 to be lifted by a Unha-3 carrier rocket at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on a launch period between 10 and 22 December 2012.

The launch was carried out on 12 December 2012, at 09:50 local time (00:50 UTC) and the satellite entered polar orbit, as confirmed by monitoring agencies in South Korea and North America with NORAD #39026 and International designator 2012-072A.

Fifth launch attempt

Kwangmyongsong-4 or KMS-4 is an Earth observation satellite launched by North Korea on 7 February 2016.

On 7 February 2016, roughly a month after an alleged hydrogen bomb test, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into orbit around the Earth. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe had warned the North to not launch the rocket, and if it did and the rocket violated Japanese territory, it would be shot down. Nevertheless, North Korea launched the rocket anyway, claiming the satellite was purely intended for peaceful, scientific purposes. Several nations, including the United States, Japan, and South Korea, have criticized the launch, and despite North Korean claims that the rocket was for peaceful purposes, it has been heavily criticized as an attempt to perform an ICBM test under the disguise of a peaceful satellite launch. China also criticized the launch; however it urged "the relevant parties" to "refrain from taking actions that may further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula".

In popular culture

The satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 has since featured prominently in North Korean festivities and celebrations such as the mass games. Commemorative stamps showing the real shape of the satellite still attached to the spin up solid motor orbital insertion third stage and more than two orbits have also been printed on several occasions.

See also

• Dong Fang Hong I
• Iranian Space Agency
• Korean Committee of Space Technology
• Musudan-ri
• Sohae Satellite Launching Station

References

1. "KITSAT-OSCAR 23 aka KITSAT-A". AMSAT. 2 January 2002. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
2. "KITSAT-OSCAR 25 (KITSAT-2)". AMSAT. 31 May 2003. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
3. "Successful launch of first satellite in DPRK". Korean Central News Agency. 4 September 1998. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
4. ^ Wade, Mark. "Kwangmyongsong 1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 25 August 2002. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
5. ^ "U.S. Calls North Korean Rocket a Failed Satellite". New York Times. 15 September 1998. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
6. "TEXT-N.Korea says it successfully launched satellite". Uk.reuters.com. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
7. North Korea space launch 'fails', BBC News, 5 April 2009
8. "NORAD and USNORTHCOM monitor North Korean launch". United States Northern Command. 5 April 2009. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
9. "Russian space control: DPRK satellite not placed in orbit". Xinhua News Agency. 6 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
10. Kim, Jack (25 March 2009). "FACTBOX: North Korea's Taepodong-2 long-range missile". REUTERS. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
11. "Japan OKs deployment of missile defense system". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
12. Obama Condemns North Korea Launch, Calls for Nuclear Free World Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Voice of America, 5 April 2009
13. EU condemns launch, China urges calm, Brisbane Times, 5 April 2009
14. China urges calm after North Korea rocket launch, Reuters, 5 April 2009
15. Russia urges calm after North Korea rocket launch, Reuters, 5 April 2009
16. "North Korea fires long-range rocket despite warnings". BBC News. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
17. "朝鲜6月18日发行胡锦涛、温家宝等中国领导人的邮票". 其乐邮币卡网. 16 June 2004. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
18. "北朝鮮のミサイル、テポドン発射記念切手". 三○七商店会. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 19 September 2008.

External links

• Kwangmyongsong, Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Nick Hansen (12 September 2012). "North Korea's Satellite Program". 38 North. School of Advanced International Studies. Retrieved 14 November 2012.

• Space program of North Korea
• 1998 in North Korea
• 1998 in spaceflight