North Korean rocket launch window opens

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A near two-week launch window for a North Korean long-range rocket began Monday, a day after Pyongyang said it may delay liftoff. North Korea has faced mounting international pressure to abandon what critics call a cover for a banned missile test.

Scientists had been pushing forward with final preparations for the launch from a west coast site but are considering "readjusting" the timing for unspecified reasons, an unidentified spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology told North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency early Sunday.

It was unclear whether diplomatic intervention or technical glitches were behind the potential delay. A brief KCNA dispatch said scientists and technicians were discussing whether to set new launch dates but did not elaborate.

North Korea's state media has yet to follow up on Sunday's announcement.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121209/DA32HTH02.html

[Gore1FL]

1. Romney would be thrilled to know the window could open!

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

[Tx4obama]

2. When I saw the subject line I thought the same thing :) n/t

[Eugene]

3. North Korea extends rocket launch window due to "technical problems"

Source: Reuters

North Korea extends rocket launch window due to "technical problems"

By Jack Kim
SEOUL | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:32am EST

(Reuters) - North Korea has extended the window for a widely condemned long-range rocket launch by a week after discovering a "technical deficiency", the isolated state's news agency said on Monday.

The launch, viewed by the United States, Japan and South Korea as a test for developing a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, had been scheduled for December 10-22 to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of former North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il.

&quot Engineers) found a technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module of the rocket carrying the satellite and decided to extend the satellite launch period up to December 29," the KCNA news agency quoted a space agency spokesman as saying.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/10/us-korea-north-rocket-idUSBRE8B902120121210

[sofa king]

4. It's a shame we can't take bets...

... on which country is going to shoot it down first: South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, the EU, and the US all have an interest in both preventing a successful North Korean launch mission and, potentially, testing out land, ship and space-borne anti-missile systems.

A rocket is a fragile and intricate system and there are a myriad of ways--all expensive--to mess with it, from breaking into its communications systems to blocking its signals entirely to popping it like a balloon with a laser... or even a carefully dropped handful of sand.

Or, you can James Bond your way into the control room and have the latest Kim explain it all to you before he leaves you to plan your escape.

There aren't a hell of a lot of real world tests one can conduct with such systems, so when a consistently bad actor.like North Korea bumbles onto the scene, it seems to me like the event will attract everyone who wants to test out their toys, possibly not limited to nations and coalitions but perhaps also including defense start-ups wishing to cut their teeth with an unexpected demonstration. I would imagine that they have been jockeying for position, spying on each other, and having a gay old time of it for at least the past week.

I wonder if we'll see a ship collision somewhere in the Sea of Japan?

[slackmaster]

5. They're Billy Jacking us again