This time yes

On Wednesday North Korea launched successfully -finally- a satellite into space becoming the 11^th nation to achieve it. The date could not be easier to remember (12.12.12) and it is indeed a huge step forward for the Kim regime. 

Several details of the launch tell how the North Koreans have advanced. They finally got the third stage to separate successfully, which had been the major problem for the previous rockets -at least for the ones that survived more than a minute on the air.

They also managed to predict accurately where the boosters and debris of the rocket would fall -confirming the Philippines’ fears. This is more important than what it may suggest at first sight. For starters, that gives more control of the trajectory and destination for long-range rockets and for, namely say, a hypotetic successful future ICBM.

Photo: Kyodo News

But probably the biggest achievement was fooling half of the world -I have to include myself here- with their “delay due to snow” distraction. We knew it would eventually happen, but didn’t expect it that soon. If it was a trick to get the attention of the world, well, it worked.

All the eyes were on them. But when it finally happened only the region neighbors were kinda fast. Whiting minutes, Japan and South Korea had strongly condemned the action and were having a coordinated diplomatic effort.

That doesn’t mean they were expecting it either. The South Koreans said they never believed the delay and were confirming the reports. The Japanese, on the other hand, said they had their missile frigates locked on the rocket since it took off but didn’t press the fire button. Sounds like an excuse to me.

Europe and America were even slower to react. In the case of Europe, only the UK summoned immediately their ambassador. Fair enough, it was night time for them when the launch took place.

For the US, the embarrassment was even worse. It wasn’t until two hours after the rocket was launched that the Americans released a statement saying they had “noted” the launch. Like if it was a disturbance in the Force.

Images from the official DPRK channel confirming the launch -with special TV programs- and statements from the Japanese and South Korean governments were all over Twitter and Facebook. But the Americans had just “noted” it.

Photo: KCNA

Still, it is not like the Americans should be immediately worried. The DPRK may have put an object in space but it is unclear if that object is an operational sat. Also, although space rockets and ICBM share common tech, the later need twice as much work to develop.

To hit the space you just need for the rocket to go upwards. To hit a place half-way through the planet you need a thermal shield for the reentry and accurate trajectory calculations. It will take several years for the DPRK to build a successful ICBM.

Of course, UN sanctions will not help that development and most likely will follow after this attempt. Even China and Russia have criticized the bold move of the North Koreans.

However, no one has said anything on the UN about the mysterious American X-37B, launched intospace one day before the North Korean satellite. It is a USAF space-drone that the US says is purely experimental, while at the same time declining to disclose what those experiments are.