North-Korea Launches Satellite into Orbit, it Goes Out of Control
So, North Korea has managed to get a satellite into orbit. There is a North Korean satellite orbiting above the world right now. Let that sink in for a moment. That's one hell of an achievement for any nation, and something that most countries can't claim. Its been confirmed to be up there by many different sources, including our own government.
Of course, things didn't go completely to plan. North Korea's first satellite is not spinning erratically out of control, and it is now believed to be quite the hazard to other satellites. People are worried that 1: it might accidentally collide with another satellite, or 2: it will tear itself apart, leaving millions of deadly little pieces flying around the planet.
That, needless to say, is not a good thing. Satellites have to move far faster than a bullet to stay up there. And satellites are designed to stay in orbit for quite a while, so those chunks tend to keep floating around in orbit until they hit something, usually making more debris.
But none of this mitigates North Korea's accomplishment here. Getting something into space is hard. I can't imagine it was easy, with the nation's limited technological resources. As much as we like to mock the country, it wasn't that long ago that China was in a similar position. Since then, China has launched several manned space missions and are on their way to building a space station, one of two that will be in orbit.
North Korea won't have the level of success that China has had. But the fact that the nation has had any success is telling. North Korea is serious about this. They want space access, and they might just get it.
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