North Korea's 5th satellite attempt-7th Feb 2016

[Shpaget]

Can't wait to see how it goes.

I'd really like them to succeed.

[Kryten]

Do you know what agency this report originated from? NIS tend to be not the most reliable.

[xenomorph555]

Do you know what agency this report originated from? NIS tend to be not the most reliable.

Not sure about the original site, so it could be fake fear clickbait. However I was expecting this news to appear around about this time so I would say 75% chance it's true.

[Red Iron Crown]

I have removed some posts of a political nature. Please keep the discussion to the rocket/program itself and not the country behind it, thank you.

[Kryten]

Still no sign of SLV stacking in sat images, so probably no launch on the 10th. They could theoretically be working at night to avoid observation, but it's pretty unlikely.

[xenomorph555]

Still no sign of SLV stacking in sat images, so probably no launch on the 10th. They could theoretically be working at night to avoid observation, but it's pretty unlikely.

Also no word on the status of that freight train, as before I'm stilling placing my bets on 16th-24th.

[xenomorph555]

-UPDATE-

So far nothing has been seen, no fuel trucks, stages or personnel have been spotted at Sohae.

Instead a new construction site has opened in the launch complex which are most likely for fuel and oxidiser;

Work on the test area is also nearing completion.

It seems unlikely that they are going to launch anytime soon, maybe not even this month. Because of this I have changed the launch date to TBA.

[RainDreamer]

If they launch something, how likely it is for the public to get a satellite image of the launch?

[Kryten]

If they launch something, how likely it is for the public to get a satellite image of the launch?

The only thing that can get that kind of info from orbit without a stupidly huge amount of luck are SBIRS, and they don't do public data releases. In the event of a successful launch we can expect plenty of info from the koreans themselves anyway, they even had rocketcam footage for the last one.

[Mitchz95]

"North Korea may be preparing a rocket launch, US officials say, citing increased activity around the Sohae Satellite Launching Station."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35433117?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Here we go again...

[Spaceception]

So did anyone hear of the NK "claim" that they landed a man on the Sun during the NIGHT? Personally, I don't think they will get much farther than a few sputniks before their space program fails (And I actually mean fail) from stupidity.

Also, NADA? Really NK?.

[ChrisSpace]

11 hours ago, Spaceception said:

So did anyone hear of the NK "claim" that they landed a man on the Sun during the NIGHT? Personally, I don't think they will get much farther than a few sputniks before their space program fails (And I actually mean fail) from stupidity.

Also, NADA? Really NK?.

I think the Sun thing was from a satire source. I think.

[rudi1291]

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2014/01/21/north-korea-lands-first-ever-man-on-the-sun-confirms-central-news-agency/

Looks like satire

[fredinno]

1 hour ago, rudi1291 said:

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2014/01/21/north-korea-lands-first-ever-man-on-the-sun-confirms-central-news-agency/

Looks like satire

Definitely satire. Not even NK is that crazy.

On October 2, 2015 at 1:04 PM, Shpaget said:

Can't wait to see how it goes.

I'd really like them to succeed.

I don't. I don't want nukes hanging over my parent's home nation...

[Evanitis]

1 hour ago, fredinno said:

Definitely satire. Not even NK is that crazy.

Yup, that's a fake news site. Though it's fun to see a few real news sites not checking the source and quoting the article as it is. Most didn't fell for it though.

[Streetwind]

3 hours ago, fredinno said:

I don't. I don't want nukes hanging over my parent's home nation...

North Korea fully ratified the Outer Space Treaty. And not just in the deep past either, but less than six years ago. That shows at least a tacit willingness to abstain from filling space up with nukes, considering the treaty bans it outright.

I know that this thread invariably attracts a massive amount of ideological and political commentary, just like the thread about Iran's space program. It seems like people feel subconsciously pressured into making sure to add some sort of criticism every time they mention the country, so that nobody can misinterpretate their words as, god forbid, being supportive! I find that kind of disheartening, because that dehumanizes an entire country's population into "the enemy" - a concept that should be just as outdated as absolutist communism nowadays, but unfortunately seems to far exceed it in popularity. We forget that not everyone can choose where they were born, and that not everyone is afforded the basic human right to choose to leave that place, either. We forget that the same thing we seek to deny them is a right we hypocritically take for granted for ourselves. And we forget that North Korea too has space nerds just like us, who just want to hear the roar of an engine they built themselves as it streaks towards the sky, and who dream of a better future of peaceful spaceflight for their country - regimes be damned.

So why don't we all agree to leave our identity-protective cognition at the door for just a moment, and wish them a good flight?

[magnemoe]

5 hours ago, Evanitis said:

Yup, that's a fake news site. Though it's fun to see a few real news sites not checking the source and quoting the article as it is. Most didn't fell for it though.

That one was too stupid landing on the sun during night is also an old joke.
The urban legends tend to pop up in regular newspapers from time to time: funny stories who are unlikely but not impossible: One man find that another man is in bed with his wife, he drives an cement truck, the other guy left the sun roof open so he fill the car with cement  

[Shpaget]

8 hours ago, fredinno said:

I don't. I don't want nukes hanging over my parent's home nation...

Whatever your parents home nation, there already are plenty of nukes hanging over it, controlled by substaintially more capable and better equipped operator.

[billbobjebkirk]

4 hours ago, Streetwind said:

North Korea fully ratified the Outer Space Treaty. And not just in the deep past either, but less than six years ago. That shows at least a tacit willingness to abstain from filling space up with nukes, considering the treaty bans it outright.

I know that this thread invariably attracts a massive amount of ideological and political commentary, just like the thread about Iran's space program. It seems like people feel subconsciously pressured into making sure to add some sort of criticism every time they mention the country, so that nobody can misinterpretate their words as, god forbid, being supportive! I find that kind of disheartening, because that dehumanizes an entire country's population into "the enemy" - a concept that should be just as outdated as absolutist communism nowadays, but unfortunately seems to far exceed it in popularity. We forget that not everyone can choose where they were born, and that not everyone is afforded the basic human right to choose to leave that place, either. We forget that the same thing we seek to deny them is a right we hypocritically take for granted for ourselves. And we forget that North Korea too has space nerds just like us, who just want to hear the roar of an engine they built themselves as it streaks towards the sky, and who dream of a better future of peaceful spaceflight for their country - regimes be damned.

So why don't we all agree to leave our identity-protective cognition at the door for just a moment, and wish them a good flight?

When North Korea ratified the OST, Kim Jong Il was in charge. Kim Jong Un, however, has shown a bit more proprnsity towards aggressiveness. The sad truth is that North Korea as an institution cares nothing for space, and uses these sattelites for no purpose other than propaganda to continue the enslavement of their own citizens.

[A35K]

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

Whatever your parents home nation, there already are plenty of nukes hanging over it, controlled by substaintially more capable and better equipped operator.

Umm.. Aren't nukes in space banned by an International treaty? Unless you mean something else by "hanging over".

[Slam_Jones]

Regardless of politics, I am always happy to see countries (especially those considered "third-world") making efforts toward the space industry.  Even if they are North Korea

I wish them the best of luck!

[Shpaget]

2 hours ago, A35K said:

Umm.. Aren't nukes in space banned by an International treaty? Unless you mean something else by "hanging over".

Sure they are, but would you be overly surprised if it turned out that one or two of the countless military satellites that USA and Russia have in orbit are actually a nuke?

[insert_name]

48 minutes ago, Shpaget said:

Sure they are, but would you be overly surprised if it turned out that one or two of the countless military satellites that USA and Russia have in orbit are actually a nuke?

yes because its cheaper to launch them from suborbital rockets than to put them in orbit and bring them down again

[Shpaget]

Why would a one time cost of a few hundreds of million be an issue when the first strike or retaliatory capability is at stake? USA is already spending more than 10 billion per year just to maintain the nuclear arsenal.

[GeneralVeers]

On 6/4/2015 at 5:04 PM, xenomorph555 said:

Oh goody, news from the hermit kingdom... /s

I think this bit spells it out pretty damn clearly.

Science is inherently hostile to "hermit" kingdoms. Science requires the exchange of ideas. The willingness to entertain heretical ideas. The willingness to admit "oops, we thought it worked this way but that turned out to be wrong". In North Korea, these things get you killed--if you're lucky. (if you're not lucky, you're missing a few fingers when they finally get around to sticking your neck in the noose.......)

North Korea's science program is a laughingstock, and probably always will be.