This post is from April 2009. Facts and links may have changed since. See more from that month

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Another Taepodong Failure

This plot from Google Earth shows the announced splashdown zones and the locations of the splashdowns from a story in the Yomiuri. Credit: David Wright.

Based on where the second stage fell, it is clear that the North Korean satellite launch was another failure.

Oh-for-three. These guys really suck.

NORTHCOM says:

Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean.

No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan

(I would also direct you to SEESAT, where they have a nice discussion going.)

Update. The wags are out. “Paul” writes:

According to the US Navy the highly unique North Korean satellite has entered subaquatic orbit in the Pacific Ocean, and is transmitting melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans Song of General Kim Il-sung and Song of General Kim Jong-il on a 15 kHz acoustic channel.

Seriously, the best thing about this blog are the readers. That is pure genius, right down to the frequency.

Jeffrey Lewis

Writing on ACW 2004–2026

Dr. Jeffrey Lewis is the founding publisher of Arms Control Wonk.com. He is the Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. His also a non-resident affiliate at Stanford's Center for Security and International Cooperation and a Contributing Editor to Survival.

All posts by Jeffrey Lewis