korean rocket to fall near luzon

The North Korean satellite launch scares me like hell, largely because my April 15 flight falls exactly within the rocket launch period, and the technical advisory makes me queasy.

Three civilian air transport routes in the Philippine territory has been tagged as dangerous during the days between April 12 to 16, from 7 am to 12 noon Philippine Standard Time. These dates are the window period that North Korea is expected to launch the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite inside the Unha-3 rocket.

The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite goes into a polar orbit, travelling the globe passing over multiple points, while the Unha-3 rocket will be shed off and fall back to Earth as debris in two stages, first near the western coast of South Korea and second to the east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, according to documents submitted by the country to the International Maritime Organization.




View Larger Map.
Google Map made by northkoreatech.org.
Red boxes indicate fall area. Green lines indicate routes advised for caution.

The air routes affected are  A590, which goes from Jomalig Island, Quezon, Philippines to just south of Tokyo, Japan; A582, which goes from Jomalig to Japan’s Kyushu island via Miyako island; and R597, which originates from Calabarzon and connects to both A590 and A582 routes. Pilots are advised to “exercise caution navigating airways A582, R597 and A590 that traverse a satellite launching falling area.”

Obviously, North Korea has already notified the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the International Telecommunication Union about its rocket launch plans. The exact “Notice to Airmen” (NOTAM) message is outlined below:

B0372/12 NOTAMN
Q) RPHI/QRALW/IV/NBO/W /000/999/1716N12415E134
A) RPHI B) 1204112200 C) 1204160300
D) DAILY 2200-0300
E) EXER CTN WHEN NAVIGATING ON AIRWAYS A582, R597, A590 THAT
TRAVERSE SATELLITE LAUNCHING FALLING AREA BOUNDED BY
THE FLW COORD:
FM POINT
19 24 32N 123 54 26E
19 23 08N 124 45 13E
15 08 19N 124 46 15E
15 09 35N 123 45 27E
TO ORIGIN
F) SFC G) UNL
CREATED: 21 Mar 2012 09:56:00
SOURCE: EUECYIYN

All told, I hope everyone doing air travel on those dates are safe. More than anything, I'm just wishing that NoKor isn't thinking about starting a military war.

REFERENCES: North Korea Tech