Why did North Korea step into space?

On the 100th anniversary of its founder Kim Il Sung, North Korea launched its own satellite into orbit and became the tenth space power.

The lifting of the three-stage, 90-tonne Unha 3 rocket onto the launch pad was accompanied by a noisy reaction from the international community. The DPRK's closeness to the outside world forced experts to literally guess about what was happening - not from coffee grounds, however, but from satellite images, determining the parameters of the rocket and what was happening in preparation for the launch.

The launch, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung, was supposed to take place last week. However, due to unspecified reasons, it was postponed. Experts noticed in one of the satellite photographs a train leaving a rocket factory. It turned out that he was carrying a new first stage of the launch vehicle to the Sohae Cosmodrome. But the technical problems were resolved, and on the morning of Wednesday, December 12, at 4:49 Moscow time, the Unha 3 launch vehicle launched . Soon the Kwangmyongsong 3 satellite separated from it and safely entered its intended orbit.

North Korean media have already made triumphant statements after previous failed launches, but this time there was no hype: US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) tracked the satellite's launch and cataloged it under the number 39026.

The South Korean authorities, literally a week earlier forced to postpone their own attempt to launch a launch vehicle, protested. Japan traditionally joined them, where an emergency meeting of the security committee was held. The UN Security Council met for extraordinary consultations.

The fact is that the international community is inclined to consider the current launch as a disguised test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, so all the key players (including Russia) have repeatedly demanded that the DPRK abandon the launch. However, it took place, was successful - and sounded almost like a challenge.

The North Korean authorities consistently deny all accusations, call the launch exclusively peaceful, and explain: “despite Western speculation,” this rocket is, in principle, not capable of intercontinental flights, and the satellite is intended for remote sensing of the Earth and pastoral monitoring of agricultural crops.

There is a certain amount of truth in this: according to some information , Unha 3, even if it is capable of reaching, say, the continental United States, will not be able to deliver any dangerous cargo there. The rocket can deliver cargo weighing up to 100 kg into orbit at an altitude of up to 500 km. In ballistic flight, this allows you to send a 500-kilogram payload over 9,000 km - or a 1-ton load over 6,000 km. But no one yet knows whether North Korea is capable of creating a powerful nuclear warhead of such a modest weight.

If this is true, then, under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the international community could recognize the launch of Unha 3 as consistent with "the needs of all mankind for the peaceful exploration and use of outer space." However, the question of the real intentions of the North Korean leadership, as always, is not so simple.

The DPRK has not yet ratified the Outer Space Treaty, but more than once it has been caught implementing not the most peaceful projects, from uranium enrichment to the same missiles. Just six months ago, a fugitive North Korean official spoke at a hearing in the American White House and officially stated that today the most important task of the DPRK leadership is to create technologies and find the funds necessary to create an inter-ballistic missile.

International sanctions are weak: neighboring China turns a blind eye to their violations, which practically nullifies all the efforts of North Korea’s opponents. In general, if on the one hand the DPRK claims peaceful goals, on the other hand it does a lot to convince everyone of the opposite.