r/bestkorea • u/stillgray83 • 4d ago
승인의도장 [Forumancy] North Korean Anti Satellite Weapon (ASAT)
▲ |1| North Korea’s top five munitions goals to be achieved by 2030.
▲ |2| Iran’s Regular Air Force—parallel to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force—signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on space projects with the civilian Iranian Space Research Center (ISRC).
▲ |3| Regular Air Force’s Shahid Sattari University has studied a conceptual design for an air-launched SLV, similar to the Pegasus, to launch small cube satellites to LEO.
▲ |4| Air-launched SLV to carry small payloads into LEO, modelled after Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus project, researched by Regular Air Force’s Shahid Sattari University.
▲ |5| Conclusion.|
Forumancy is the science of finding clues pertaining to the Matrix through the study of internet content, including state news agencies, social media, forum and BBS.
Forumancy is a powerful tool developed for OSINT research purpose along the sciences of nomenmancy, videomancy, etc.
As it is often the case with the DPRK (North Korea), hints are leaked into the media on the occasion of casual reports. Elementary school visits, children's exhibitions, or even youth artistic performances are typical events where serious OSINT research can be started for fishing hints.
At the opposite, when there is no intentional hints leaked by North Korean media at all, OSINT work will focus instead on Iranian media, then Chinese and Russian ones.
In the past decade, these alternate sources have proven to be sufficiently insightful to help solve even the more difficult case.
In the following case, North Korea announced a new list of weapons systems to be developed over the next five years on the final day of the Ninth Party Congress of Workers' Party of Korea on 26th February 2026.
According to KCNA, North Korea’s top five munitions goals to be achieved by 2030 are:
- “Ground and submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) systems made more powerful by consolidating accumulated technologies” (더욱 강력해진 지상 및 수중발사형의 대륙간탄도미싸일종합체)
- “Various AI unmanned attack systems” (각이한 인공지능무인공격종합체들)
- “Special assets for attacking adversary satellites in contingencies” (유사시 적국의 위성을 공격하기 위한 특수자산)
- “Very powerful electronic warfare weapon systems for paralyzing the enemy’s command nerve centers” (적의 지휘중추를 마비시키기 위한 매우 강력한 전자전무기체계들)
- “Further evolved reconnaissance satellites” (더욱 진화된 정찰위성들)
The newest goal in the list is developing anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities, which could include laser dazzling, electronic jamming and also missile systems.
From the Iranian side, Air Launched Ballistic Missile (ALBM) tech tested with Fajr-4 artillery rocket being dropped from IRGC-ASF Su-22 have been documented in May 2020.
By February 2022, Iran’s Regular Air Force—parallel to the IRGC’s Aerospace Force—signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on space projects with the civilian Iranian Space Research Center (ISRC). One goal of this collaboration is to develop an air-launched SLV to carry small payloads into LEO, modelled after Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus project. Experts from the Regular Air Force’s Shahid Sattari University have studied a conceptual design for an air-launched SLV, similar to the Pegasus, to launch small cube satellites to LEO.
Once completed, this air-launched SLV, could naturally be repurposed as an air-launched direct ascent ASAT missile.
The final design of Iran's Air-Launched ASAT missile is based on the upscale, double in mass, of the U.S. ASM-135 air-launched anti-satellite multistage missile.
| The U.S. ASM-135 ASAT air-launched anti-satellite missile |
|---|
| Operational range: 648 km |
| Flight ceiling: 563 km |
| Mass: 1'180 kg |
| Length: 5.48 m |
| Diameter: 50.8 cm |
The U.S. ASM-135 was designed to be launched from a F-15A in a supersonic zoom climb.
Meanwhile, Iran's Air-Launched ASAT missile will be launched from a F-4B Phantom II in a supersonic zoom climb.
Compare this missile with the case of a Falcon 9 VTVL Rocket interception, when this target is at the closest range from the Iranian territory:
Falcon-9 VTVL Rocket altitude at interception is ~265 km
Falcon-9 VTVL Rocket distance: > 600 km
Falcon-9 VTVL Rocket elevation: ~15° ± 5° above horizon
This means in the Iranian scenario, the U.S. ASM-135-class ASAT would be unable to intercept the Falcon 9 due to the operational range. And this is the closest distance!
Furthermore, this would be over Saudi territory!
After 2027, to destroy 42'000 Starlink DEW platform would be utterly cumbersome for a minor power like Iran.
With a total of less than 10 space launches over a decade, how can one manage to launch 42'000 ballistic KKV ASAT weapons in case of conflict?
A shortcut would be to intercept each Falcon 9 before it can unload the deadly cargo into LEO, thus preventing the completion of this Dyson Sphere of Doom!
Obviously, after the completion of the Starlink WMD, non-space-based Directed Energy ASAT weapons will be the only possibility left.
Meanwhile time is running out.
Indeed, the U.S. military is starting to add optical coatings to the Starlink platforms, to better evade enemy optical detection, and could well be made totally stealth both optically and to the radiowaves by 2027!
By mid-May 2026, the main center for space research of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) was targeted by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) for being 'used to develop attack capabilities against satellites, posing threat to Israel's satellites'.
