North Korea Successfully launches its first satellite

[icytailmark]

breaking news north korea just launched a 3 stage rocket over japan. Reports coming in that they have successfully launched their first satellite.

[AG Hybrid]

Well done Nth Korea and your supreme leader. Now you can concentrate on feeding your people.

:scared3:

[Pinwheel]

So what did they put into LOW ORBIT a bucket of water or a photo of their former leader...:P

[gary]

In this ABC report, it states "the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD)
said the rocket deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit around the Earth."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-12/north-korea-launches-rocket/4423668

Given the trajectory, the payload may well have passed over Australia.

The payload weight will be of extreme interest.

A worrying development.

[gary]

Jonathan McDowell reports USSTRATCOM designation likely to
be "39026, 2012-072A".

[gary]

Jonathan McDowell's Twitter page. Notice that T.S Kelso (http://www.celestrak.com/webmaster.asp)has been studying the
orbit as well and tweets on McDowell's page -
https://twitter.com/planet4589

[gary]

Jonathon's Space Report =
http://planet4589.org/jsr.html

[gary]

According to this web site -
http://www.zarya.info/Gallimaufry/Kwangmyongsong32.php



Radio amateurs might want to try 470MHz if there is a pass.

[gary]

TLE

1 39026u 12072a 12347.09611576 -.00000066 00000-0 00000+0 0 21
2 39026 097.4047 036.0317 0067405 176.3492 277.5861 15.08261084 19

[gary]

If any radio amateurs read this in the Sydney area, you might try 470.00 MHz
between 23:48 AEDT and 12:55 AEDT in a few minutes time tonight.

It might rise in Az at 208 degrees, peak at Az 244 degrees and set at Az 281, but will
only reach a max Alt of 5 degrees.

[gary]

If the North Koreans have managed to put a Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-3) satellite in orbit,
the estimated weight for that payload would be around 100kg.

The lightest nuclear weapons the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54) built in the late 50's/early 60's
weighed around 68kg and could deliver a yield of between a few tons to a kiloton.

The Australian press is relatively nonchalant about the story of the Korean
launch at the moment. This morning's Sydney Morning Herald has a story
way down the page entitled "Alarm over N Korea ricket" (sic). See below.
Perhaps what you expect if you sack all your sub-editors.

But I would not be surprised that in a day or two when they figure out that a North
Korean missile just delivered a satellite that passed over Australia that
otherwise hypothetically could have been a small atomic weapon, some
more words may be typed.