MAJ Matthew H. Ormsbee breaks down the international legal and political issues surrounding North Korea’s recent spy satellite efforts:

Very likely, the North Korean satellite is purely symbolic and not the useful military asset that Kim Jong-un claims. The North Korean leader need not worry: North Korea can likely rely on Russia’s space intelligence efforts, especially with the new coziness of the bilateral relationship. Still, with its rudimentary technology, when—not if—the Malligyong-1 ceases to operate properly, as it almost certainly will, the United States should expect Kim Jong-un to reliably point the finger at U.S. interference rather than his nation’s technical ineptitude, further escalating North Korea’s war-drum rhetoric.

I think this assessment will hold true for a while, and the entire effort will likely remain more of a vanity/propaganda effort than a strategic game-changer for even longer, but a marginally useful micro-constellation of smallsats with COTS sensors wouldn’t be that difficult for the North Korean’s to pull off. And then there’s the potential for weapon delivery. Technological advancements will eventually enable them, and unfortunately many other marginal/hostile players, to realize some real value in the domain.