Did North Korean missiles reach space in early 2022?

Question

BBC News is hosting a number of photos from the North Korean news service, which depict a North Korean missile launch. Specifically these figures, which have this description:

Images released by the North Korean news agency show the missile launch, and pictures taken from the missile in space

Are the figures genuine or is there any indication that they might not be?

Your regular reminder that *reaching* space is relatively easy, it's *staying there* for any kind of useful amount of time that's difficult — Shadur, Jan 31 '22 at 14:11
[There are higher resolution pictures](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022-01-30T213009Z_772757686_RC2X9S93V3Z4_RTRMADP_3_NORTHKOREA-MISSILES.jpg) availabe. I am also doubtfull about the authenticity. — User65535, Jan 31 '22 at 15:30
Is there any reason to be skeptical about this? Amateur rocketry nerds can get to space with rockets they build in their garages, so is it really that surprising that a nation-state can do it? — Jörg W Mittag, Jan 31 '22 at 22:54
@JörgWMittag Do you mean something like [A Rocket Built by Students Reached Space for the First Time](https://www.wired.com/story/a-rocket-built-by-students-reached-space-for-the-first-time/amp)? — Laurel, Feb 01 '22 at 04:04
The takeoff photo from above seems a little too good, and the way the space ones are framed seems odd, but that's more a question for Photoshop experts. (BTW, I see no reason to doubt the reaching 2000 km high part) — Ken Y-N, Feb 01 '22 at 06:10
@TypeIA Staying in space long enough to reach somewhere useful is. — Shadur, Feb 01 '22 at 07:04
@Shadur That somewhere useful is never more than 1/2 an orbit away (unless you're trying to nuke the moon or something [_"would you miss it? would you?"_]). — TypeIA, Feb 01 '22 at 08:52
@TypeIA According to the answer, this one managed to get about 1/50 of an orbit, which is far less distance covered than earlier tests that aimed somewhere other than *up*. — Shadur, Feb 01 '22 at 10:12
Looking at the four pictures in the link that User65535 posted, why is the cloud cover so different from the first globe to the second? (please note, I don't necessarily mean this to mean I think it's not real, I just don't understand how in the course of a few minutes the cloud cover can change so drastically. Is this normal?) — CGCampbell, Feb 01 '22 at 17:11
@CGCampbell I don't think most of that is cloud cover. I think it's just a really crappy image sensor with low dynamic range getting overloaded and saturating on essentially the entire side of the Earth that's facing the sun. — reirab, Feb 01 '22 at 17:44
@TypeIA Half of an orbit is almost as difficult as a complete orbit. The whole difference is (roughly) between getting your perigee 6378 or 6478 km above the center of the Earth. Those numbers look fairly similar, don't they? — TooTea, Feb 02 '22 at 08:21

score 49 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 31 '22 at 17:40

49

They did, but that's not a big deal

North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Appears to Be Its Boldest in Years (New York Times):

The missile launched on [Jan 28th] was fired at a steep angle, reaching an altitude of 1,242 miles while covering a distance of 497 miles, South Korean defense officials said.

The edge of space is only 100 km above the surface of Earth. As Randall Munroe has explained, it's really not that hard for something to get to space. It would be a bigger deal if they had achieved orbit.

edited Jan 31 '22 at 17:40

Laurel

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answered Jan 31 '22 at 16:45

Rob Watts

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I'm confused. 1,242 is 1242 right (2000km)? Because ',' is the American thousand separator? How come the distance is shorter than the altitude? Altitude is also distance from the surface of the earth by definition. Or did they meant horizontal distance only? – Mixxiphoid Feb 01 '22 at 07:35
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@Mixxiphoid Altitude is height above the launch location, distance is how far away on land the missile landed compared to the launch location. – Scot Feb 01 '22 at 08:04
So it seems. A source without paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20220131142608/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/world/asia/north-korea-missile-test.html – pinegulf Feb 01 '22 at 08:31
@Mixxiphoid Yes, that is in American/British notation, with `,` as a thousands separator. A missile, like any projectile, can be launched at any angle from 0° (flat and level) to 90° (straight up). What angle it's launched at will determine how far up and how far downrange it flies. In this case, the missile reached an altitude of 1242 miles, but only travelled 497 miles downrange (i.e. 497 miles as measured across the surface of the Earth). – Sebastian Lenartowicz Feb 01 '22 at 10:03
I thought they achieved orbit in 2012, few months before South Korea – Mehdi Feb 01 '22 at 10:16
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The implication is that they deliberately chose a high trajectory (near vertical but no danger of landing on their own heads!) to test a long range missile without actually crossing e.g. Japan's territory and raising political tensions more than they had to. – user_1818839 Feb 01 '22 at 13:34
@Mehdi Yes, [that's correct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng_program). Though they've only done it a few (maybe just 2?) times. It still would have been more relevant news, though, as it likely would have indicated a test of a launch vehicle that could be used for an ICBM. – reirab Feb 01 '22 at 16:32
@Mixxiphoid they aimed straight up, the only distance over land/sea covered was due to the rotation of the earth. I'd guess this was done so as to keep the rocket in line of sight contact with tracking stations within North Korea for as long as possible to get the most data possible from the telemetry. North Korea doesn't have much of a fleet of tracking ships and of course has no access to foreign tracking stations. – jwenting Feb 02 '22 at 12:31
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+1 if for nothing else than referencing "What If?" – DenisS Feb 03 '22 at 14:14

Did North Korean missiles reach space in early 2022?

1 Answers1

They did, but that's not a big deal