Monday, February 08, 2016

USSTRATCOM Detects, Tracks North Korean Missile Launch into Space

U.S. Strategic Command Public Affairs
2/6/2016

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. – U.S. Strategic Command systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch into space at 6:29 p.m. CST.
 
The missile was tracked on a southerly launch over the Yellow Sea.
 
NORAD determined that at no time was the missile a threat to North America.  The men and women of USSTRATCOM, NORAD AND USNORTHCOM, AND USPACOM remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security.
 
UPDATE 1 (Feb. 7, 2016): Initial observations from U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Space, through its Joint Space Operations Center, following the launch of a North Korean missile into space, indicate two objects – NORAD catalog identification numbers 41332 and 41333 – are in orbit and at an inclination of 97.5 degrees. These observations are available on the publicly-available website Space-Track.org.
 
Note: An inclination of 97.5 means the object is rotating in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation at a 97.5 degree angle from the Earth's equator, meaning the two objects are essentially orbiting over the poles.
 
UPDATE 2 (Feb. 8, 2016): The two objects U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Space, through its Joint Space Operations Center, tracked following the launch of a North Korean missile into space – NORAD catalog identification numbers 41332 and 41333 – have been added to USSTRATCOM’s satellite catalog on the publicly-available website Space-Track.org. The object with NORAD catalog identification numbers 41332 is KMS 4, the payload. The object with NORAD catalog identification numbers 41333 is UNHA 3 R/B, the rocket body.