Another Asian country with access to space?

Hello,

On April 3rd I wrote a post describing  the  LPSC conference session about the Moon exploration which contains a large part of results from three asian countries (China, India, Japan) which have now access to space and could launch their own mission toward the Moon.

Ironically, two days later, North Korea claimed the launch of an experimental communication satellite called “Bright Star-2” using an Uhna-2 rocket. Interestingly, neither the US and Russian Space Control confirmed the successful launch of this satellite. I am attaching below a satellite image showing the exhaust trail and part of a North Korean rocket launched on April 5 which clearly confirms that the launch really happened. This impressive image illustrates the quality in resolution obtained from Earth-bound satellites.

It remains unclear whether this launch was indeed part of a a peaceful space project as claimed by the North Korean government. The satellite has not been seen neither hear and the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the rocket launch since it violates the UN resolution 1718 and is considered by several countries as a test for intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea released recently a footage of the launch (link attached at the end of this post).

I am not a specialist to judge whether or not this is an act of war or a test to launch  a satellite in space. I just wanted to share with you that they may be a 4th Asian nation with access to space.

Cheers

F.

Footage of the Unha-2 launch

A satellite image showing the exhaust trail and part of a North Korean rocket launched on April 5. The company that took the picture, DigitalGlobe, describes it as “a panchromatic, 50 centimeter (1.6 foot) high-resolution WorldView-1 satellite image showing the rocket launch from the Musudan Ri launch facility.