eyes for juche
On November 21, North Korea announced the launch of its first visual reconnaissance satellite, Manligyong-1. It orbits in a sun-synchronous orbit and flies over Korea once a day with an apogee of about 500 kilometers. A week after the launch, North Korean state publications wrote that the device took photos of the American White House, Pentagon and US Air Force bases, but did not display the frames.
Shortly thereafter, the North Korean Ministry of Defense issued a warning to the US Space Force that they should not attempt to damage the North Korean device under any circumstances; because this will be considered a declaration of war.
The new satellite actually forced the United States to strengthen sanctions against North Korea and condemn the fact of the launch together with the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea. In fact, not a single American official threatened to destroy Munligion-1. approves also CNN material. Official spokesman for the US Department of Defense taken into account The satellite launch doesn’t really matter because “there are plenty of images of the Pentagon and the White House on the Internet.”
Most analysts agree with this assessment, But can the US really get rid of the North Korean satellite? The American Navy is armed with the SM-3 anti-aircraft missile with a flight ceiling of more than 1000 km. This allows it to both shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles in the middle part of orbit and hit satellites. showed In 2008. But neither the missile launch nor the cloud of debris will be able to hide, which will lead to a serious diplomatic scandal and a quarrel with China, because it is unlikely that North Korea will decide to declare war on the United States. reply.
Remove silently
The United States (and other developed countries) have other ways to intervene without shooting down a satellite.
“There are three main methods: hacking, radio interference and laser blinding. This is if we leave aside such exotic options as bombardment with charged particles and destruction of electronics with a microwave beam,” said leading engineer Viktor Voropaev, head of the International Network of Optical Telescopes at the Institute of Applied Mathematics, A. Keldysh RAS.
Since North Korea does not have satellite communications stations around the world, communication with the device is only possible through its own territory. However, since the device passes over both Koreas at the same time, during data transfer the device will be in radio visibility of the South Koreans and therefore it will be possible to hack the on-board computer. There are several examples in the history of astronautics when one country managed to gain control of another’s poorly protected device, for example, a student’s device. But this option is unlikely, as North Korean engineers are probably confident that their satellites cannot be “taken over” so easily.
“A much more realistic option is to create radio interference or interference. Jamming involves exposing the satellite receiver to a radio beam of the desired frequency and polarization as soon as it is turned on. The goal is to clog the receiving channel with noise or meaningless signals. Simply put, a satellite at a certain point in the orbit activates a radio communication system to transmit data to the ground or receive commands, but instead it receives another signal and the communication session is interrupted,” says Voropaev.
If the satellite needs to receive a critical command from the control center, jamming could disable the device forever. Unlike hacking, creating radio interference on satellites is common. For example, in this accused Iran: Non-government-controlled Persian-language TV channels are allegedly disrupting communications satellites in geostationary orbit.
The third way to disable the reconnaissance satellite without contact is to use a laser.
“The satellite camera had a working photodetector at the time of shooting. If a bright laser beam hits the lens, at least the image will be illuminated as if you were shooting against the sun. If the beam is too strong, the CCD matrix (or line) will receive irreversible physical damage, simply put, it will burn,” said the chief engineer.
There are many methods to combat this, but they are all hidden and complex. In this case it is possible to “illuminate” not only the lens, but also the sun or star orientation sensors.
It is possible but why?
The use of all three methods is virtually unnoticeable and unprovable by an outside observer. North Korea’s statements about the “intrigues of the imperialists” will not be taken seriously due to the country’s poor position in the international arena. Moreover, even the owners of the satellite will have difficulty understanding whether the enemy damaged it or whether it malfunctioned due to natural causes.
To summarize, Voropaev said that disabling the North Korean device possible but difficultand above all no one needs it. According to the expert, the diameter of the satellite lens does not exceed 30-35 centimeters, otherwise it would not be possible to launch it with a North Korean rocket. The quality of the shot strictly depends on the diameter of the lens, and a 30-centimeter lens will provide a terrestrial resolution of no better than five meters. It is likely to reach several tens of meters, meaning that only large buildings and aircraft carrier-type ships can be detected with the help of Mannligyon-1. For comparison, the best satellites from Maxar (USA) take photos with a resolution of up to 30 centimeters.
Such intelligence is of low value and can be obtained from commercially available images from Maxar, Planet Labs, and other companies. And if North Korea cannot buy private images even through intermediaries, there are friendly Russia and China nearby, whose reconnaissance satellites are much better than North Korea’s.