Kwangmyŏngsŏng
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 An image released on North Korean television of what was purported to be Kwangmyŏngsŏng. |
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Kwangmyŏngsŏng ("Bright Light Star") was an artificial satellite claimed to have been launched by North Korea in 1998. There is some doubt as to whether the satellite existed at all. Many North Korea observers believe the story of a satellite launch was invented to allay the international outrage that followed North Korea's test-firing of a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile, which crossed over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean. NORAD were unable to detect the satellite visually, by radar, or pick up its radio signals. It is thought that, if there had truly been an attempt to launch a satellite, the third stage failed to fire and it was placed into an orbit from which it decayed very quickly.
The official Korean Central News Agency announced on September 1, 1998, that the satellite had been launched at 3:07 UTC on August 31 from a launch site in Musudan-ri, Hwadae-gun, North Hamgyong Province by a Taepodong-1 rocket. This was followed by a video of the launch, images of the purported satellite, and an animation of the satellite in orbit. The photographs showed a satellite similar to the first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, itself very similar to Telstar 1.
According to the North Korean media it completed its hundredth orbit on September 13, 1998, and was in an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 218.82 km and apogee of 6,978.2 km with a period of 165 minutes and 6 seconds. It was also reported to be transmitting the melody of "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" and the Morse signals "Juche Korea" at 27 MHz.
The satellite has since featured prominently in North Korean propaganda, such as the mass gymnastics.
