North Korean satellite - be dead.

Astronomers from Harvard have confirmed that the North Korean satellite launched into space last week is tumbling in orbit and that no transmission has been received from it, signals that the spacecraft is almost certainly inactive. Experts have denied the possibility that the satellite could fall quickly back to Earth.

North Korean media has not commented on the spacecraft’s dysfunction, instead it has been focusing on describing its launch as a triumphal achievement of their leader.

The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite is approximately the sixe of a washing machine and it is supposed to carry a camera on board for Earth-observation objectives. If this is true, that the satellite is tumbling in orbit, inflames suspicions that it is not working at all because it would need to be still so that the camera always points toward the planet.

Experts indicate that tumbling is a sign that stabilization on-board systems have failed. Optical astronomers have observed the satellite brightening and dimming as it slowly rotates through space end over end. a