Jak donosi
Jonathan McDowell:
Launch of the Unha-3 rocket with the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite payload
from the Sohae launch site at Tongch'ang-dong occurred on Apr 12.
I caution that facts may take a day or two to settle down. Based on the
available information announced by NORAD and by the South Korean
military, it seems that the rocket took off at 2239 UTC but failed near
the end of first stage burn, probably at the point of separation of the
first and second stages 1min30s after launch at 2240 UTC. The remains of
it then arced up 120-130 km into space and fell back into the Yellow
Sea at about 124E 36N (according to South Korean statements)
probably about 5 minutes after launch. This is
consistent with a trajectory of roughly -6200 x 130 km x 88 deg, about
what one might expect for the first stage. The impact area is close to
the planned impact zone for the first stage which was at 124.5-124.8E,
35.2-35.9N.
However, NORAD says the impact was 165 km west of Seoul, which is well
north of this and well off the planned launch track. This is a
surprising claim and I am wondering if they meant something slightly
different - e.g. 165 km W of Seoul's Incheon airport, which would put
the impact near 124.5W 37.5N, closer to the track but still outside its
nominal limits. This is a bit north of the expected first stage impact
zone, which could indicate a failure prior to first stage cutoff, or
underperformance by the first stage engines, if correct.
A report by ABC of debris near the Phillipines seems to be bogus.
Washington Post's correspondent Chico Harlan reports that North Korea
admits that the satellite failed to enter orbit.