Inter-Korean Reconnaissance Satellite Competition & K4-Ⅱ Next-Generation Grenade Machine Gun!!!
rgm84d 조회수
ORIGINAL LINK : https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=rgm84d&logNo=223280495077
This is the 425 reconnaissance satellite, which is ready for launch, mounted on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 satellite launcher.
On December 2, Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite successfully launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 satellite launcher.
The reconnaissance satellite launched on December 2 was developed through the 425 project, and after the first EO (Electro-Optical) reconnaissance satellite was launched on December 2, a total of 4 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) reconnaissance satellites are planned to be launched by 2025.
Before the launch of Korea’s military reconnaissance satellite, it is known that North Korea’s Manrikyong 1 reconnaissance satellite, launched on November 21, is passing over the Korean Peninsula 2-3 times a day. According to the real-time satellite tracking website n2yo, Manrikyong 1 is orbiting the Earth in a long elliptical orbit at an altitude of about 507km.
This is the conceptual diagram of the Manrikyong reconnaissance satellite released by North Korea.
What is the military value of Manrikyong?
North Korea announced that the launch of Manrikyong 1 was successful, and it has been confirmed that it is flying in a normal orbit. The variable is that flying in a normal orbit and performing normally are different stories. Satellite launches have so many variables, and there are many cases where satellites break down due to the strong radiation and magnetic fields in space. And even if it performs normally, there is a lot of skepticism about how much military value it would have.
Fortunately for us, before the successful launch of Manrikyong 3, the Korean Navy successfully salvaged the Manrikyong reconnaissance satellite, which failed to launch on June 26, 2023.
At the time of the announcement, the salvaged satellite body was quickly moved to the Defense Science Research Institute by helicopter, and on July 6, 2023, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the resolution of Manrikyong-1 was much lower than that of commercial satellites, at a level of 10m~20m. In other words, it had almost no military value.
This is the scene of North Korea’s Manrikyong reconnaissance satellite launch. At least it succeeded in entering orbit through the third launch.
Of course, there are counterarguments. It is that North Korea received satellite technology and rocket technology from Russia in return for selling weapons to Russia.
An expert from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, who was interviewed about this claim, says that considering that it takes at least 3-4 years to develop a satellite body, it is highly likely that North Korea’s Manrikyong 3 is also the same model recovered on June 26. In other words, it is realistically impossible to design and insert a new telescope assembly or other support system within a limited period of months.
The SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite developed by KAI using the 425 project weighs about 800kg.
425 Project and Micro Reconnaissance Satellite
The Ministry of National Defense is conducting the 425 project to launch 4 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) mounted reconnaissance satellites and 1 EO (Electro-Optical) reconnaissance satellite for reconnaissance of North Korean territory and kill chain operations. The EO (Electro-Optical) reconnaissance satellite that makes up the 425 project is being developed under the leadership of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and assembled by KAI, and the 800kg-class SAR reconnaissance satellite is being jointly developed by KAI and Hanwha Systems, and its resolution is known to be less than 0.5m.
The Ministry of National Defense plans to start the 425-Ⅱ project as soon as the 425 project is completed, and the project goal is to launch 10 SAR reconnaissance satellites and 2 EO satellites, and of course, it plans to further improve the resolution.
This is the K-type model of the micro reconnaissance satellite developed by KAI through a development cost of 679 billion won.
◆ Micro Reconnaissance Satellite Launch Project
The five reconnaissance satellites launched by the Ministry of National Defense can only conduct reconnaissance of the Korean Peninsula at intervals of 2 hours. In response to North Korea’s mobile missile launchers and long-range artillery, the military needs to launch a large number of micro-reconnaissance satellites that can conduct reconnaissance at any time.
