The AP reports, “North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed Wednesday in a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea rise.” The AP adds, “After an unusually quick admission of failure, North Korea vowed to conduct a second launch after it learns what went wrong.” The AP goes on to report that the South Korean military “said it was salvaging an object presumed to be part of the crashed North Korean rocket in waters 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the southwestern island of Eocheongdo. Later, the Defense Ministry released photos of a white, metal cylinder it described as a suspected rocket part.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Tag: spy satellite
SpaceX Launches NRO Spy Satellite
Space News reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 “launched a U.S. government spy satellite into orbit Feb. 2 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.” The NROL-87 payload, launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 3:28 p.m. Eastern, “was the National Reconnaissance Office’s first space mission of the year and the first orbital launch of 2022 from the Western Range.” The AP reports that the Falcon’s first stage “flew back to the seaside base northwest of Los Angeles and landed so that it can be reused in a future NRO mission.”
Full Story (Space News);
More Info (Associated Press)