North Korea launched a new satellite Feb. 7 as Americans were watching Super Bowl pregame coverage (or updating social media to let all their friends know they weren’t watching it). Apparently, North Korea wanted to see the game too, so they flew their brand-new satellite almost directly over the stadium.
Unfortunately for sports fans in the Hermit Kingdom, the satellite missed the game by an hour and so if it caught anything it was only players touching the Lombardi Trophy and Peyton Manning talking about Budweiser.
North Korea’s launch was quickly condemned by the international community. The U.N. Security Council said “a clear threat to international peace and security continues to exist, especially in the context of the nuclear test.”
The timing of North Korea’s launch was no accident.
“The date of the launch appears to be in consideration of the weather condition and ahead of the Lunar New Year and the U.S. Super Bowl,” Jo Ho-young, chairman of the South Korean National Assembly Intelligence Committee, told the BBC.
The new satellite, which is North Korea’s second, doesn’t appear to do anything besides orbit the globe. Both of North Korea’s satellites orbit the Earth every 94 minutes, but no signals have been detected emitting from either one. The first was launched in 2012.
It’s not clear if the satellites were ever designed to broadcast data to Earth or if they simply malfunctioned. The new satellite is already facing issues and is currently tumbling in orbit.
Still, with North Korea developing more powerful nuclear weapons and pursuing new missile technologies, the U.S. and its allies in Southeast Asia are looking for ways to head off potential attacks.
South Korea is considering allowing a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense site, or THAAD, in their country. THAAD can be used to shoot down missiles in flight outside of the range of the Patriot Missiles currently stationed in South Korea.
Even China, North Korea’s main ally, has discussed implementing new U.N. sanctions against the North Korean regime.
