EMP alert: Two North Korean satellites now orbit over U.S. North Korea now has two satellites orbiting over the United States capable of performing a surprise electromagnetic pulse attack at an altitude and trajectory that evade U.S. National Missile Defenses. National security expert Peter Vincent Pry said that the satellites can be commanded either to deorbit and hit a target on the ground or explode at a high altitude to create an EMP effect that would knock out the unprotected U.S. national electrical grid system and all life-sustaining critical infrastructures that depend on it. Pry said that while the U.S. is aware of the satellites, it is unable to determine their payloads. One satellite launched in 2012, the other earlier this year.