[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] North Korean Satellite Inferior to Google... "Poor Reconnaissance Capability"

Manligyeong Type 1 Camera Resolution Below 1m
Practically Ineffective for Military Use

North Korea has reignited interest in the performance of its satellite by relaunching a military reconnaissance satellite after 85 days. The military expects little difference in performance compared to the satellite 'Manlilkyung-1' launched in May, considering its resolution.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the 24th, "Our military detected one 'North Korean claimed space launch vehicle' launched southward from the Dongchang-ri area in North Pyongan Province around 3:50 a.m. today, passing over international waters west of Ieodo."

This marks North Korea's relaunch of a military reconnaissance satellite 85 days after the failed launch of the reconnaissance satellite 'Manlilkyung-1' aboard the space launch vehicle 'Chollima-1' on May 31.

At the 8th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party held from June 16 to 18, attended by Chairman Kim Jong-un, the failure of the reconnaissance satellite launch was cited as the "most serious defect," and a strong determination was expressed to successfully relaunch it as soon as possible. The National Intelligence Service reported to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on the 17th that "North Korea has been intensively conducting engine combustion tests since July to verify the reliability of the launch vehicle."

Subsequently, North Korea notified Japan on the 22nd that it would launch an artificial satellite between midnight on the 24th and midnight on the 31st. The three maritime danger zones set by North Korea at that time were two in the Yellow Sea southwest of North Korea and one in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, all outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These zones are similar to the orbit used during North Korea's military reconnaissance satellite launch in May.

North Korea is reported to have been focusing on experiments to resolve the rocket engine defect, which was identified as the cause of the previous launch failure.

The issue lies with the satellite technology. Even if North Korea succeeds in this launch, the military reconnaissance satellite is expected to have almost no practical utility. The military authorities recovered major parts of the satellite 'Manlilkyung-1' that fell into the West Sea in May and conducted a joint investigation with the United States, concluding that it was of very poor quality and had no military utility.

This means that the camera equipped on Manlilkyung-1 did not reach the 'sub-meter' level resolution of less than 1 meter, rendering it practically meaningless. Generally, a camera resolution must be at the sub-meter level to represent an area of less than 1 meter by 1 meter as a single point in satellite images, but the resolution was comparable to or worse than that of Google Earth's satellite images. Previously, in December last year, the satellite images released after North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) had a resolution of only 20 meters.

Meanwhile, North Korea's so-called space launch vehicle launches are illegal acts that directly violate United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting all launches using ballistic missile technology.

This reconnaissance satellite launch appears intended to create a festive atmosphere ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime on the 9th of next month. It is also analyzed to contain an intention to counter the joint South Korea-U.S. 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS) exercises, which began on the 21st and will continue until the 31st.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.