So what is North Korea really up to? The country says it has a right to establish a space program, though the U.S. and many others believe this is really part of North Korea's efforts to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile to threaten an even wider ring of nations. The planned launch may be delayed by snow, but various countries are readying themselves for a potential mission. The U.S. is sending additional warships to the area while Japan is preparing its Patriot missiles to intercept the rocket if it comes anywhere near the country. Not exactly a peaceful space venture here.
This has always been the risk of this technology from the time of Sputnik - will we explore and learn about the universe around us or concentrate on national politics and exploit space to conquer others? Maybe North Korea can join the rest of the world at some point with more peaceful space missions, but for now it seems reasonable to doubt their sincerity on launching satellites that monitor agriculture. I would rather other nations share their space images for now while North Korea concentrates on more pressing issues, such as how it can feed its population. One step at a time. First pass through the dark ages, North Korea, and then maybe you will be more credible in the space age.
Update: The North Koreans successfully launched their rocket on December 12th to place a weather satellite in orbit (see the photo provided by North Korea below). While the rocket flew over Japan, the government did not attempt to destroy it. Nations around the world condemned the launch and the South Korean military recovered wreckage of the rocket.
