The satellite North Korea sent into orbit during Sunday's rocket launch passed over Levi's Stadium, the site of Super Bowl 50.
The satellite didn't fly over the stadium until about an hour after the game ended, and it's not clear if the trajectory was deliberate or a coincidence.
Martyn Williams, editor of the North Korea Tech website, has been tracking the satellite, which is called Kwangmyongsong-4 or "Shining Star 4." Williams wrote on Twitter that he could follow the satellite's movements, but was unable to pick up any signal from it:
"We don't know very much about it," Williams told the San Jose Mercury News. "They've called it an 'Earth observation satellite,' which is a catch-all term that it will likely take pictures of the Earth."
Williams also said he thought it was just coincidence that the satellite passed over the stadium following the biggest football game of the year.
CBS News reported that the satellite was tumbling in orbit, leaving it useless. Reuters said it would be several days before it's known if the tumbling can be stopped and the satellite can function. The news agency also reported that the satellite appeared to have been designed to last four years in orbit.
No signal has been detected from the last satellite North Korea launched, Kwangmyongsong-3, which is also tumbling. However, the aerospace defense command NORAD is tracking both satellites and live data can be found on the N2YO.com website. The newest one, KMS-4, has already made several trips over the continental United States. The older satellite is identified as KMS 3-2.
North Korea's satellite launches have been widely condemned as thinly veiled cover for missile tests. Sunday's launch used a rocket believed to be similar to the Unha-3. With a range of 6,300 miles, that would put the West Coast of the United States within its reach, the Washington Post reported.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the North Korea launch "deeply deplorable." Secretary of State John Kerry described it as a "major provocation" and a "flagrant violation of U.N Security Council Resolutions related to the D.P.R.K. use of ballistic missile technology."