Musudan launch flight path
UPDATE: Martyn Williams informs me that the North Koreans have closed air routes throught their controlled airspace:
North Korea will close two aerial routes through its controlled airspace from April 4 to 8 in order to launch what Pyongyang claims is a communications satellite, Japan’s transport ministry said Saturday. (Kyodo)
And the routes to be closed:
A0027/09 – ATS RTE SEGMENTS CLSD:
R452 KICHA-SESUR
G346 KICHA-RASON
DUE TO LAUNCH OF A COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE. GND – UNL, DAILY 0200-0700, 04
APR 02:00 2009 UNTIL 08 APR 07:00 2009. CREATED: 21 MAR 03:22 2009
These waypoints have been added to a Google Earth application which you may download here.
ORIGINAL POST: Martyn Williams was kind enough to send me the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) from Fukuoka (Japan) Air Traffic Control—posted below in full. The NOTAM provides the best estimate of the date and time of the launch.
Using this information, I have mapped out the Musudan launch path and areas of falling debris on Google Earth:
Click on image for a larger view.
Download this file (with additional closed air routes) to your Google Earth here.
FUKUOKA NOTAM
J0732/09 – ALL ACFT INTENDING TO FLY WI FUKUOKA FIR ARE ADVISED TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION. A SATELLITE IS EXPECTED TO BE LAUNCHED FROM NORTH KOREA.
THE LAUNCHING IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR AS FLW,
1.LAUNCHING DATE AND TIME : BTN 0200UTC AND 0700* UTC DAILY FM APR 4 TO APR 8
2.POSSIBLE FALLING AREA OF THE FLYING OBJECTS AND/OR THEIR DEBRIS
AREA(1): AREA BOUNDED BY STRAIGHT LINES
CONNECTING FOLLOWING POINTS.
404140N1353445E 402722N1383040E
401634N1383022E 403052N1353426E
AREA(2): AREA BOUNDED BY STRAIGHT LINES
CONNECTING FOLLOWING POINTS.
343542N1644042E 312222N1721836E
295553N1721347E 330916N1643542E
WHEN FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SATELLITE LAUNCHING OBTAINED, REPLACED NOTAM WILL BE ISSUED. SFC – UNL, 12 MAR 23:40 2009 UNTIL 08 APR 07:00 2009 ESTIMATED. CREATED: 12 MAR 23:41 2009
*(11:00am-4:00pm in Japan)
UPDATE: The Choson Ilbo reports that the DPRK spent at least $30 million on the missle:
Experts speculate that impoverished North Korea spent at least US$30 million on development of a missile it is apparently poised to launch. While the North says it is launching a rocket to propel a satellite into orbit, many in the West are convinced this is in fact a Taepodong-2 long-range missile.
When North Korea test-launched seven medium and long-range missiles in July 2006, South Korean military authorities estimated the total cost at about $63.69 million (about W60 billion according to the exchange rate at that time).
Grand National Party spokesman Yoon Sang-hyun on Friday said his party estimates North Korea spent about $30 million test-launching the Taepodong-2 missile three years ago. “They should have spent the money to feed and clothe their people,” Yoon added.
North Korea spent approximately $20 million test-firing the Taepodong-1 missile in 1998, and experts guess it cost more this time since performance and capabilities including the airframe and range of the Taepodong-2 missile have been improved by more than 10 percent since the rocket fizzled ignominiously in a test three years ago.
A researcher with a government-funded think tank said, “North Korea may have spent between W800 billion and W900 billion (US$1=W1,488) developing and manufacturing the rocket for the Taepodong-2 alone.”
March 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Off-topic, but North Korea’s first pizza restaurant has just opened.
March 17th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
nope, they’ve been selling pizza at the Pyolmuri cafe since at least 2005, I had one delivered to the Koryo Hotel at that time too. The quality was pretty poor but recently it has improved, the staff there claim the improvement is a result of US NGOs visiting very frequently
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 am
[...] NK Econ Watch through information he received from information from Fukuoka Japan’s Air Traffic Control has been able to plot a rough trajectory of where North Korea will likely launch their missile two weeks from now: Martyn Williams was kind enough to send me the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) from Fukuoka (Japan) Air Traffic Control—posted below in full. The NOTAM provides the best estimate of the date and time of the launch. [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
[...] You can see the launch trajectory mapped out on Google Earth here. [...]
April 7th, 2009 at 7:23 am
[...] North Korea said debris would fall to prior to the test. Here is the Google Earth image from NK Econ Watch that I posted two weeks ago that shows where North Korea said the debris would [...]