- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
After decades of satellite surveillance by foreign governments and analysts, North Korea has sent its first spy satellite on a global orbit with a message to the world: we can watch you too.
I know others are commenting that the same views can be seen on publicly available satellite imagery, but that’s missing the point.
The concern is that NK has reached a milestone in orbital rocketry and while a basic so-called spy satellite has taken beginner level photos, they have figured out how to put a payload into a solid orbit. That information works for ICBMs as much as it works for tinker toy payloads.
ICBM are both an easier and harder task than putting satellites into orbit.
Easier in that the math and fuel requirements are a lot easier if you don’t need a stable orbit so much as a trajectory.
Harder in that your payload is likely considerably heavier if you want to make the ICBM worth the cost.
To use video game terminology: the two are different branches of the same tech tree with a potential join for an endgame super weapon (rods from god)
It’s still a lot of the same math. A successful launch like this is a lot learned for all applications.
If the game goes to k3 you eventually get rkms and instant death mode where your enemies martydom with a vacuum decay