Kwangmyŏngsŏng 2

Etymology

The name "Kwangmyŏngsŏng" is richly symbolic for North Korean nationalism and the Kim family cult. Even though the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was born in the village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, DPRK sources claim Kim was born on Mount Paektu, and on that day a bright lode star (kwangmyŏngsŏng) appeared in the sky, so everyone knew a new general had been born.

Pre-launch announcement

The launch was first publicly announced on 24 February 2009, when the Korean Central News Agency reported that they had been informed by the Korean Committee of Space Technology that preparations for a satellite launch were underway, and that the satellite would be launched from Musudan-ri in Hwadae. At about the same time, Kim Jong-il visited the province where the launch site is located, as he had immediately prior to the previous launch on 4 July 2006. In addition, on February 26, 2009, KCNA revealed that the KCST had a long-term plan of putting various types of satellites into orbit.

International response to the announcement

Prior to the official announcement, it was reported that North Korea was preparing to test a missile in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718. Following the announcement that it was a satellite launch attempt, the US government stated that it would consider intercepting the rocket if it did not appear to be an orbital launch, while Japan ordered the JSDF, on 26 March, to intercept debris of the rocket in case the firing failed and fell in Japanese territory or territorial waters. North Korea responded that it would consider any attempt to intercept the launch to be an act of war, the spokesman of the DPRK force said "We will launch thunder and fire not only to projected JSDF interception forces but to important areas of Japan." South Korea, Japan, and the United States deployed their Aegis destroyers and cruisers in the Sea of Japan, destroyers which are equipped with BMD SM-3 missiles. Japan also moved its PAC-3 Patriot ground-based interceptor missiles to bases in Akita and Iwate. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the U.S. didn't plan to intercept the launching or to shoot down the missile in flight. Japan deployed their Aegis destroyers to the Sea of Japan, with an order to prepare to shoot down any debris that could fall on Japanese territory. South Korea also dispatched an Aegis-equipped destroyer off the east coast.

NOTAM

On 12 March North Korea announced that it had signed the Outer Space Treaty and the Registration Convention. It also informed the ICAO and IMO that it would conduct a satellite launch between 4 and 8 April, during a launch window running from 02:00 to 07:00 UTC. It reported that the rocket's first stage was planned to fall about 650 kilometres (400 mi) east-north-east of South Korea's Donghae, the second stage would fall about 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) downrange, and the third stage would enter low Earth orbit with the satellite. The ICAO map showed danger zone one extending between longitudes 135 and 138 at latitude 40 North, and zone two between longitudes 164 and 172 at latitudes 29 to 34 North. North Korea designated the waters off Japan's Akita and Iwate prefectures as a risk zone for falling debris.

In addition, the SLV will be launched eastward at an angle of 90.5 degrees, meaning it will have a 0.5 degree westward tilt resulting in a longer flight path over Japan, thus avoiding the re-entry of the second stage into the Pacific Ocean off of Hawaii, in order to prevent further criticism from the US but at an increased escalation risk with Japan.

According to North Korean meteorological forecast, the launch site is expected to have either snow or rain in the afternoon on April 4, cloudy skies on April 5 and clear skies from April 6 to 10, as pictures of the assembled launch vehicle were publicly disclosed revealing a quite short third stage with a fairly large nosecone fairing, and a first stage taking up about two-thirds of the launcher. The long first stage has a clearly larger diameter than the shorter second stage. Fueling process was reported to have started on April 2, 2009. On April 4, 2009, KCNA reported that the KCST had completed all the preparations for launch and that lift-off would be imminent. KCST indicated that the weather was the most important factor determining the success of the satellite launch, and terrestrial wind speed should be less than 15 metres per second (49 ft/s). Korean weather forecast predicted that Saturday would be cloudy, with winds between 6 and 10 metres per second (20 and 33 ft/s), and Sunday would be very cloudy and windy early on, with clouds and wind starting to die down somewhat in the afternoon. Wind speed would settle to around 3 to 4 metres per second (9.8 to 13.1 ft/s) on Monday and there would be clear weather on Tuesday.

The Japanese government mistakenly announced that the KSCT fired a rocket on April 4, 2009, at about 12 p.m. Tokyo time, sending nationwide emergency warnings, only to be retracted less than five minutes later, and announced the error was originated from the JSDF FPS-5 radar's faulty detection.

On April 5, 2009, North Korea announced that the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite had been officially launched at 11:30:15 (0230 GMT plus 15 seconds); officials in South Korea, Russia and the United States reported that the rocket and its payload had fallen into the Pacific Ocean without having achieved orbit.

Launch details

The launch proceeded in relatively clear weather conditions. The launch pad was at the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, in the North Korean province of North Hamgyong, near the northern tip of the East Korea Bay. The rocket flew over the Japanese islands, by when it was in outer space at an altitude of over 300 km. North Korea stated the first stage of the rocket would fall in the sea 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Japan, and the second stage would fall into the Pacific Ocean. Japanese authorities stated no reports of damage or injury in Japan as a result of the launch, and that the rocket's first stage "landed in the water as had been expected". According to the United States Northern Command, the remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. Officials and analysts in Seoul said the rocket flew at least 2,000 miles (3,200 km), doubling the range of the one that carried Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 in 1998. Later analysis suggested the rocket impacted 2,390 miles (3,850 km) from the launch site, and that second stage operated normally but the rocket's third stage failed to separate properly.

The satellite

Pyongyang claimed that Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was an experimental communications satellite as part of a peaceful space project.

According to state news agency KCNA, which claimed the launch was successful, the satellite's orbital parameters consist of a 490 kilometres (300 mi) perigee and 1,426 kilometres (886 mi) apogee, with an orbital period of 104 minutes and 12 seconds and an orbital inclination of 40.6 degrees. The satellite was said to have entered orbit nine minutes and two seconds after launch and began transmitting data and the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" on a frequency of 470 MHz. However, similar claims were made in 1998 for Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1, whose launch attempt is believed to have failed.

According to The Christian Science Monitor, South Korean experts asserted that the satellite was a dummy. Myung Noh-hoon, director of the Space Research Centre at KAIST was quoted as saying "They cannot have been shooting a real satellite. They did not build a satellite." However, in a conflicting statement, an unnamed South Korean official announced that the rocket appeared to have carried a satellite. A senior Russian military source on Monday confirmed U.S and South Korean reports that North Korea failed to place a satellite in orbit saying “Our space monitoring system did not establish the placing into orbit of the North Korean satellite. According to our information, it’s just not there”.

Details regarding the construction and equipment of the satellite are scarce. However, based on an image of the satellite appearing on a DPRK postage stamp and a model displayed at the Three Revolution Exhibition in Pyongyang, the design appears to be more sophisticated than that of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1, with solar power panels, communication and radio antennas and an orbital engine.

Accidents during the preparation of launch

On 3 March 2015, it was reported by KCNA and subsequently repeated by Chinese media, e.g. Sina, that Kim Jong-un had visited Unit 447 of the Korean People's Army's Air and Anti-Air Force and planted trees with fighter pilots of the unit in recognition of fourteen pilots, who lost their lives during the launch of Kwangmyongsong-2. Kim Jong Un subsequently visited a monument erected to the memory of the fighters to recognize the heroic feats performed by the 14 fighter pilots in the operation to ensure the successful launch of the satellite. It was also reported that Kim Jong-un had accompanied the then leader Kim Jong-il in 2009 to observe the launch.

North Korean reaction and internal celebrations

A mass rally by thousands of North Koreans took place in Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang to celebrate the launch of the satellite.

In August 2009, postage stamps commemorating the launch were brought into circulation. The souvenir sheet says "Launch of Artificial Satellite 'Kwangmyongsong No. 2' in the DPRK".

Members of the six-party talks

International organisations

Other countries

North Korean response to criticism

Shortly after members of the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the rocket launch, North Korea responded in a statement released by its foreign ministry on 14 April 2009 that the UN action was an "unbearable insult", and the UN statement infringed its sovereignty and "severely debases" its people. It also decided to quit the six-party talks, saying "There is no need for the six-party talks any more. We will never again take part in such talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks." The statement added that North Korea intended to "bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way" and that it would restart the Yongbyon reactor. North Korea partially dismantled the reactor in 2008 as part of an international agreement in return for foreign aid and diplomatic concessions. On 18 April, Pyongyang unexpectedly announced that it would interpret sanctions and criticism levelled after the launch as "a declaration of war" and reasserted the North Korean military's willingness to defend against "aggression" from South Korea and the United States. On 29 April, it further demanded "apology" from the U.N. Security Council and threatened with more nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. On 25 May, North Korea claimed that it had conducted a second nuclear test.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on 14 April that North Korea informed its inspectors of immediate cessation of all cooperation with the IAEA and instructed them to leave the country.

Reactions by members of the six-party talks