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North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

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Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#11

Post by qup »

BillyTheMage wrote: post #8
neom wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in South Korea, according to our media the North filed today with the international maritime organization (UN), why that particular org... I have no clue. SK also said the launch would be illegal and they may shoot it down if they launch it. Doubt they will. Notably China and Russia countered saying it is legal.

Screw North Korea and all that, but it seems absolutely wild to me for it to be illegal for a country to launch their own satellites.

What does this even mean? Illegal just means the other team says they can't do it. I can't believe that you're very surprised that our team told their team no. NK is almost universally regarded as a bad actor.

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#12

Post by neom »

BillyTheMage wrote: post #8
neom wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in South Korea, according to our media the North filed today with the international maritime organization (UN), why that particular org... I have no clue. SK also said the launch would be illegal and they may shoot it down if they launch it. Doubt they will. Notably China and Russia countered saying it is legal.

Screw North Korea and all that, but it seems absolutely wild to me for it to be illegal for a country to launch their own satellites.

It's because of the type of rocket they're launching it on. They're using an ICBM that there is an international regulation on.

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#14

Post by LatteLazy »

lettergram wrote: post #6
LatteLazy wrote: post #3

If you can put an object into orbit, you can put it into any major (US or other) city within about 45min and no one can intercept it.

I personally see very little risk from North Korea. Put simply, they know they’ll be destroyed if they lash out. They just don’t want to be invaded and deposed. I wouldn’t doubt once they get their ICBM program up if they start improving living standards. They can then adjust their GDP allocation, and reduce their investment in their military. To be clear, completely think their government is beyond horrible. Do not…

I like your optimism.

For the rest of the world, I don't think they "will" but I don't like that they "could". And I expect we will be paying protection money accordingly...

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#16

Post by ckozlowski »

jl6 wrote: post #2

Are the orbits of spy satellites agreed with any international institutions (e.g. to avoid collisions) or is it all secret and a free-for-all?

Yup! Those aspects are covered in the Outer Space treaty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

Most satellites are registered and their orbital data published. This includes reconnaissance satellites. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registration_Convention

You can find them here: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/spaceobjectregister/index.htm... If you drill into the submissions from say, the USA, you can look up the "USA-###" designations and see USSF and NRO launches.

I believe however, that this data may not always be up to date, and might only reflect the orbital characteristics at time of launch, and not reflect subsequent maneuvers. Some reconnaissance satellites are then harder to track, and it's a bit of a hobby for those who don't have access to an enormous space radar. =P But that's where the Space Liability convention comes into play. Basically, if you launched it, you're responsible for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Liability_Convention

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#17

Post by neom »

jvanderbot wrote: post #15
LatteLazy wrote: post #3

If you can put an object into orbit, you can put it into any major (US or other) city within about 45min and no one can intercept it.

Is it true that a single icbm cannot be intercepted?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-ballistic_missile

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#18

Post by bell-cot »

lettergram wrote: post #6
LatteLazy wrote: post #3

If you can put an object into orbit, you can put it into any major (US or other) city within about 45min and no one can intercept it.

I personally see very little risk from North Korea. Put simply, they know they’ll be destroyed if they lash out. They just don’t want to be invaded and deposed. I wouldn’t doubt once they get their ICBM program up if they start improving living standards. They can then adjust their GDP allocation, and reduce their investment in their military. To be clear, completely think their government is beyond horrible. Do not…

> I wouldn’t doubt once they get their ICBM program up if they start improving living standards. They can then adjust their GDP allocation, and reduce their investment in their military.

"Giant Evil threatens our motherland!" paranoia is very useful for keeping a closed society's dictatorship in power. Regardless of whether any Great Evil exists. Or has any interest in said motherland. Vs. over the past (say) 50 years, how many authoritarian governments have fallen, after their attempts to pivot from paranoia to more openness-and-prosperity-focused stances went wrong?

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#19

Post by LatteLazy »

jvanderbot wrote: post #15
LatteLazy wrote: post #3

If you can put an object into orbit, you can put it into any major (US or other) city within about 45min and no one can intercept it.

Is it true that a single icbm cannot be intercepted?

No one really knows. The only time it has been managed was once and that relied on having a tracking device on the ICBM, on it's source, path and target being know before time and on it following the simplest possible trajectory. And that's assuming the Koreans only launch 1, presumably if this thing works in June, they will make more than 1...

It's surprising how many systems there are (Russian, French, British, US, Chinese, Indian etc) and how rarely anyone dares to actually do a public test...

Re: North Korea to Launch Military Spy Satellite for Monitoring U.S. Drills

#20

Post by khuey »

neom wrote: post #12
BillyTheMage wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Screw North Korea and all that, but it seems absolutely wild to me for it to be illegal for a country to launch their own satellites.

It's because of the type of rocket they're launching it on. They're using an ICBM that there is an international regulation on.

Any rocket capable of reaching orbit is potentially an ICBM.
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