"Santa Harabeoji, When Are You Coming?"... Location Tracking Available in Hangul Starting This Year

NORAD's 68-Year Santa Tracking Service
"Tracking Location with Satellites, Radar, and Fighter Jets"

Every year at Christmas, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has been tracking Santa Claus's location, begins its mission again. This year, NORAD has launched a Korean language service, making it easier for Korean children to track Santa's real-time location.

NORAD conducts its Santa tracking mission using advanced equipment such as satellites, high-powered radar, and jet fighters through its 'Santa Tracker' website from 8 PM on December 24 to 4 PM on December 25, Korea Standard Time.

NORAD is originally an agency responsible for early warning and control of air, space, and maritime domains across North America. However, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, it takes on a 'special mission' to track the busy Santa Claus delivering presents to children worldwide and provide real-time location updates.

NORAD Santa Tracking Website
Photo by NORAD Website Capture

NORAD publicly shares tracking information through its Santa Tracker website, and this year, it is offering Korean language service for the first time. Previously, the service was available in eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. By accessing the website and changing the settings to 'Korean' in the tab on the right, users can see the message "Come back on December 24 to track Santa's worldwide flight" at the bottom of the homepage.

NORAD's Santa tracking service began in 1955 with the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), NORAD's predecessor, due to a misdialed phone call. At that time, a department store mistakenly printed CONAD's phone number as Santa's contact number in a newspaper ad. Many children who saw the ad called the originally unlisted CONAD operations center. An Air Force colonel on duty answered a child's question about Santa's whereabouts, and this tradition has continued for 68 years.

NORAD stated that it uses advanced technology to track Santa, who travels faster than the speed of light. First, it checks for signs of Santa leaving the North Pole through 47 radar facilities across North America. Once Santa's takeoff is confirmed, satellites used to track missile launches are employed. These geostationary satellites are equipped with infrared sensors that can detect the infrared signals from Rudolph's nose. Then, Canadian fighter pilots in CF-18 jets greet Santa over Newfoundland, while in the U.S., F-15, F-16, and F-22 fighters escort him. NORAD explains that although Santa is faster than the fighters, he deliberately slows down to be escorted.

Santa usually visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia, followed by Asia including Korea, Africa, Western Europe, Canada, and the United States. However, NORAD notes that this route may vary depending on weather conditions.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Based on flight profile data collected through NORAD's radar and satellite tracking, Santa is estimated to be 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) tall and weigh about 260 pounds (118 kg). However, Santa's weight increases to 571 kg when he gets off the sleigh after completing his mission, gaining over 450 kg. This is because he eats a lot of cookies and milk left by children at each house. Additionally, the weight of the gifts on the reindeer sleigh at takeoff is estimated to be 60,000 tons.

Along with operating the website, NORAD mobilizes over 1,250 staff and volunteers every year around Christmas Eve to handle phone calls and emails from around the world asking about Santa's location. Santa's real-time location can also be checked on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X.

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