North Korea identified the launch as an SLV, and indeed it is. The trajectory of an SLV to be inserted into orbit is also more shallow than the parabolic arc of a missile. By comparison, solid fuel rockets are more stable, do not require fueling, and are preferable for missile readiness. An SLV may also use more energetic liquid fuels, and if not used to deliver a warhead in short notice, it would not suffer from the need for fueling prior to launch.
There are, nevertheless, technical differences between a rocket optimized for warhead delivery and one optimized to launch satellites. In 1957, the Soviet Union demonstrated its first ICBM and orbited the Sputnik satellite, both using the R-7 rocket. The early missile programs of the United States and the Soviet Union went in tandem with aspirations for the exploration of space. A rocket capable of generating enough thrust at burnout to put something into orbit may also contain enough thrust to put something on a point of the earth thousands of miles away. Q3: What’s the difference between a missile and a space launch vehicle?Ī3: Both missiles and space launch vehicles (SLVs) are rockets, and in some cases they may be virtually identical. News reports this week continue to highlight the potential launch of additional road-mobile missiles, as well as a possible fifth nuclear detonation. The more profound significance of the launch, however, will likely be political, for what it will do to U.S.–South Korea relations, missile defense deployments on the peninsula and in the Asia Pacific more broadly, and the prioritization of allied military capabilities directed at defending against and if necessary defeating North Korean threats. It will also certainly spark renewed interest in missile defense but also other active measures to counter North Korea’s missile program. Despite North Korea’s stated interest in a weather satellite to advance meteorological science, the test represents a significant indicator of both their capability and intentions to develop longer-range ballistic missiles.Ī2: On the heels of the North’s fourth nuclear detonation a month ago, the launch reflects both continued technical advances and their sustained intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ambitions. The rocket then apparently orbited an “earth observation satellite” called Kwangmyongsong-4 (lode star), reportedly weighing 200 kilograms, about twice the size of a satellite by the same name orbited in December 2012. A1: On the morning of February 7, North Korea launched an Unha-type rocket, headed due south.
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