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Malligyong-1-3

North Korea successfully placed its first spy satellite into orbit, its space agency said 21 November 2022, defying international con- demnation from the United States and its allies. The National Aerospace Technology Administration said the Malligyong-1 satellite was launched from the Sohae satellite launch facility on Tuesday at 10:42 pm (13:42 GMT) and entered orbit at 10:54pm (1:354 GMT), the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was all smiles when he visited the National Aerospace Development Administration alongside his daughter Kim Ju-ae. The visit came a day after North Korea announced it had successfully launched a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Kim saying that, having a military reconnaissance satellite is "a proud exercise of the right to self-defense that cannot be compromised."

"The launch of the reconnaissance satellite is the legal right of the Democratic Republic of Korea to strengthen its right to self-defense. It will greatly enhance the military's war readiness, in accordance with the security environment created in the country and surrounding areas caused by the enemy's dangerous military actions."

Also at the site was Kim's daughter, Kim Ju-ae appeared in public for the first time since attending a military parade in September, commemorating the regime's founding anniversary. North Korean media also highlighted that Kim Ju-ae attended the launch's celebration banquet,.. and gave more attention to her than her mother, Ri Sol-ju.

North Korea revealed video footage of the launch. The video captured four streaks of flames spewing out of the rocket,.. indicating that the regime increased the number of engines from two to four.

A North Korean newspaper said leader Kim Jong Un had inspected photos taken by the country's new reconnaissance satellite of "major target areas" in South Korea. Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers' Party paper, said Kim reviewed the operational preparations for the satellite at the control center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration. The paper said the photos were taken while the satellite was passing over the Korean Peninsula after 10:00 a.m. on Friday. They reportedly include images of Pyeongtaek in the central part of South Korea and Osan near Seoul, where US military bases are located.

The paper also mentioned a plan for the satellite to photograph "the enemy region". Kim was said to have visited the control center the day after the launch, where he observed aerial imagery of the US Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. North Korea had yet to release any of these photos. Pyongyang has indicated the new reconnaissance satellite will start operating on December 1. But South Korea's intelligence agency says it will not be able to determine the satellite's capabilities unless Pyongyang releases images.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received photos of the White House, Pentagon and US aircraft carriers in the naval base of Norfolk, taken by its recently launched spy satellite, state media KCNA said. The photos were the latest in a series of images of what KCNA described as “major target regions” sent by the satellite, including the South Korean capital of Seoul and US military bases.

Kim also inspected satellite photos of the Andersen Air Force Base in the US Western Pacific territory of Guam and a US shipyard and airbase in Norfolk and Newport, where a total of four nuclear-powered air carriers and a British air carrier were spotted, KCNA said. Dr. Jeffrey Lewis [aka @ArmsControlWonk] provided some preliminary answers to questions about North Korea's space launch.

1. The North Koreans said it made it into orbit. Did it?

I don't know yet, but based on where we see the ionospheric disturbance it appears to have been "more successful" than the previous two attempts. We see a stronger signal than in May and it is located downrange -- both are consistent with the second stage working (at least for a while). This launch appears more successful than the previous two attempts. We don't know yet *how* successful.

2. Yet?

If the satellite made it into orbit, the community of visual satellite observers, like @Marco_Langbroek, will spot it. https://satobs.org/seesat/Nov-2023/index.html

3. Does the SLV or satellite use Russian technology?

Probably not. It's much too early for the North Koreans to have integrated any assistance Russia may have agreed to supply. Maybe the Russians gave them some advice, but it's normal for countries to launch and learn.

4. Is it really an ICBM?

While the SLV probably uses the same RD250-like engines as North Korea's ICBMs, there are design differences between the two. North Korea is no longer shy about testing ICBMs, so no -- this really is an SLV.

But Markus Schiller recalls his "2019 paper on Russian links to the North Korean program. My bet is that there is definitely some sort of Soviet(!) tech to be found in there. There has been a decades-long history of covert Russian support of NK."

Jonathan McDowell reported "The US Space Force has cataloged an object in orbit that is consistent with the successful launch of the North Korean spy sat from Sohae at 1343 UTC yesterday. Looks like third time lucky for the Cheonlima-1 rocket."

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense announced the results of an analysis of the spy satellite. "North Korea's so-called military reconnaissance satellite is currently believed to have entered orbit. This launch poses a great threat to our national security as, based on its ICBM-based technology, it can be used to launch nuclear weapons."

Military officials in Seoul also told reporters that the satellite is orbiting the Earth properly , but remained puzzled as to Pyongyang's claims that the satellite captured images of military bases in South Korea and the U.S. The officials added it usually takes months to verify the operational status of a satellite.

Defense ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu said during a briefing that the military is conducting a comprehensive analysis of the satellite, including its flight path, adding that the orbiter poses a serious threat to national security as a means of dropping nuclear weapons by intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM). Jeon noted, however, that Seoul’s analysis of debris from Pyongyang's first failed attempt in May showed the satellite to be primitive, and the potential advancement in related technologies is limited given the time frame between launches.

Speaking to reporters, another military official cast doubt over the North's claim that the Malligyong-1 satellite had taken photos of the entire Korean Peninsula, Hawaii and Guam, saying it usually takes several months after a satellite launch for such photos to be taken. The official also downplayed the likelihood that Pyongyang received support from Russia in advancing its satellites due to compatibility issues affecting both the launch vehicle and the control center software.

Pyongyang's satellite launch led the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting in New York on 27 November 2023, local time. 8 countries including the U.S., the UK and Japan participated, as well as South Korea. "Since the strategic value of North Korea has become very high, it might be difficult to get a meaningful resolution passed from the UNSC meeting with China and Russia taking the North's side, instead of blaming it."

North Korea's state-run KCNA cited a foreign ministry official who said the satellite launch was a legal and righteous exercise of self-defense and that those who try to "violate the sovereignty" of North Korea, will face consequences. "North Korean provocations are not only a threat to South Korea but also a serious threat to liberal democracies around the globe. It's very important for South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to strengthen security cooperation, especially in northeast Asia."

The Japan Coast Guard said 20 November 2023 that it had been informed by North Korea of its plan to launch a "satellite" sometime between November 22 and November 30. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said in an interview with public broadcaster KBS that the launch could occur within a week or before November 30 at the latest. Japan's Defense Minister Kihara Minoru has indicated that the government will gather intelligence and stay on alert to prepare for a possible launch of a North Korean military spy satellite. Kihara told reporters that North Korea expressed its intention to launch a satellite for the third time, following two failed attempts in May and August.

Seoul warned Pyongyang, over its third attempt to put a military spy satellite into orbit, as the launch could come as early as this week. The launch could mean a partial suspension of the September 19th inter-Korean military pact. South Korea's military warned North Korea to immediately stop any preparations to launch a military reconnaissance satellite. Chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kang Ho-pil,.. vowed Monday to take necessary measures, if Pyongyang were to ignore the warning.

"We are sternly warning North Korea to immediately stop the launch of the military reconnaissance satellite, currently under preparation. If North Korea presses ahead with the launch despite our warning, our military will take necessary measures to guarantee the lives and safety of our people." Although Kang did not elaborate on what those measures would be the government is widely anticipated to partially suspend the inter-Korean military pact signed in 2018,.. also known as the September 19th military agreement. The pact which established no-fly zones near the border, has recently been called into question, as it restricts Seoul's surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities amid escalating North Korean threats.

"We believe there will be necessary progress made through consultations with relevant ministries and through the correct channels." It is rather unusual for military authorities to issue a warning before a launch,.. but a JCS official explained that the warning was made based on the results of the National Security Council meeting held Monday morning, which looked at the possibility of a spy satellite launch by the North,.. as well as countermeasures against it.

"The National Space Development Agency said it will carry out the third reconnaissance satellite launch in October after thoroughly investigating the cause and taking measures," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

North Korea's second attempt to launch a military spy satellite failed due to a problem with the third stage of the rocket. The launch took place on 24 August 2023, the first day of a week-long launch window. The first and second stages flew normally, but the third stage failed due to an error in the emergency explosion system. North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration is investigating the cause of the accident.

North Korea's space agency said they would make a third launch attempt in October after assessing why the second launch failed. The launch came less than three months after the first flight of the Chollima-1 booster. The agency said that the cause of the second launch failure is not a big issue for the reliability of the system or the cascade engines. The agency will study what went wrong with the second launch before attempting the third launch.

Spy satellites are highly sophisticated pieces of technology that require advanced capabilities in various domains such as rocket technology, satellite engineering, signal processing, and data analysis. They typically require robust infrastructure for control and data downlink, as well as a high level of expertise in various scientific and engineering disciplines.

Given North Korea's isolation and the sanctions imposed on it by various international bodies, acquiring or developing the technology and expertise needed for a functional spy satellite would be a significant challenge for the country.

North Korea launched its first so-called "military spy satellite" on May 31, but its rocket crashed shortly after takeoff and crashed into the sea off South Korea's west coast. South Korea said an analysis of the wreckage of a North Korean spy satellite that fell into the sea showed that the device had no meaningful military use. The South Korean military began a salvage operation almost immediately, recovering fragments of the rocket, as well as the satellite itself, in a complex operation involving aircraft, navy and deep-sea divers. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said on the 5th that experts from South Korea and the United States analyzed the components. Ppreliminary assessments showed the satellite's reconnaissance resolution and ability to track targets was poor.

Putting military spy satellites into orbit is a key element of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's military modernization plan, which has said he needs to step up surveillance of the United States. After a rare acknowledgment of the failures, North Korea said it would conduct another satellite launch.

North Korea did not try to launch a military reconnaissance satellite in October, despite previously announcing that it would. Following its second unsuccessful attempt in August, Pyongyang had said it would conduct a third launch in October after determining the cause of the failure. Some officials of the Japanese government say that Pyongyang may be proceeding cautiously to avoid a third consecutive failure or it may be taking time to receive technological support from Russia.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was hard to predict when North Korea will conduct its third attempt to launch a spy satellite. A ROK military spokesperson said staff are monitoring the situation, but added that it is difficult to tell when the regime will go for a launch. Another military officer says that if the North manages to speedily resolve its technological issues, with help from Russia, it may be able to carry out the launch next month, but if it needs a lot more help, it could take longer.

There is also the view that Pyongyang will carry out another launch in November or December in order to chalk up a success by the end of the year. The Japanese government plans to take all possible steps to prepare for a launch. The measures include deploying Aegis destroyers in the East China Sea, and the land-based PAC-3 interceptor systems in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan.

Over the weekend of 4-5 November 2023, North Korea designated next Saturday as "Missile Industry Day," and South Korea's military remains alert as the regime could try another spy satellite launch attempt on that day. The South Korean military said it's keeping an eye on a possible third attempt by North Korea to launch its military satellite on November 18th --which Pyongyang has designated as "Missile Industry Day," to commemorate last year's successful test launch of its Hwasong-17 ICBM.

"North Korea has designated so-called "industry days" several times before. So we are closely monitoring and tracking the situation, taking various possibilities into account, including a possible provocation on one of those anniversaries." The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S. have been closely coordinating on the matter.

Meanwhile, one expert noted that South Korea is also scheduled to send its own military spy satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with the help from Elon Musk's Space X on November 30th, and explained that this makes it risky for the North. "If North Korea makes an attempt to launch its satellite, whether it be on November 18th or anytime up to November 30th and it doesn't succeed, then they could very likely be upstaged by South Korea."

But he added that North Korea will likely carry out the launch at some point, presumably before the end of the year. The North has failed twice in recent months to put a spy satellite into orbit. Immediately after it failed in its second attempt in August, Pyongyang announced that it would make a third attempt in October, but even into November, still hasn't attempted the third launch. North Korea's satellite launch is seen as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology and is considered a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK reported 03 December 2023 that the reconnaissance satellite operation office, organized at the Pyongyang General Control Centre of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA), started to discharge its mission on December 2. The reconnaissance satellite operation office of the NATA Pyongyang General Control Center will perform its mission as an independent military intelligence organization.

The information acquired through the discharge of the mission shall be reported to the relevant permanent executive department of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and, on instructions, will be offered to major units regarded as war deterrence of the state and the General Reconnaissance Bureau of the Korean People's Army. The DPRK Ministry of National Defense expressed expectation that the war deterrence of the DPRK would assume more perfect military posture.