Sohae Satellite Launching Station (, also known as Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center and Pongdong-ri) is a rocket launching site in Tongch'ang-ri,
Cholsan County
Ch'ŏlsan County is a ''kun'', or county, in North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It occupies the Ch'ŏlsan Peninsula, which juts into the Yellow Sea. Ch'ŏlsan borders Yŏmju and Tongrim counties to the north, and is bounded on all other si ...
,
North Pyongan
North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...
Province,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. The base is located among hills close to the northern border with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The spaceport was built on the site of the village Pongdong-ri which was displaced during construction. It was the site for the 13 April 2012 launch of the North Korean satellite
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 () was a North Korean Earth observation satellite which, according to the DPRK, was for weather forecast purposes, and whose launch was widely portrayed in the West to be a veiled ballistic missile test. The satellite was l ...
, which was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of
Kim Il-Sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
.
The rocket launch failed, but on 12 December of the same year
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 or Gwangmyeongseong-3 ho 2-hogi (; English: Bright Star-3 Unit 2 or Lodestar-3 Unit 2) is the first satellite successfully launched from North Korea, an Earth observation spacecraft that was launched on 12 December 2012 ...
was successfully launched and brought into Earth orbit.
The launches were controversial as they were dismissed by the US as tests of
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
technology and hence of breach of an agreement made between North Korea and the US in February 2012.
During the
2018 North Korea–United States summit,
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
promised that North Korea would destroy a missile engine test stand soon. The site was not initially named but was later identified to be the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground by US officials. This pledge was made official as part of the Pyongyang Declaration which Kim and South Korean leader Moon Jae-In signed at the
September 2018 inter-Korean summit
The September 2018 inter-Korean summit was the third and final inter-Korean summit in the 2018-19 Korean peace process.
On 13 August, the Blue House announced that South Korea's President plans to attend the third inter-Korean summit with lea ...
. On 31 October 2018, South Korean officials visited the site and confirmed it was being dismantled and ready for an upcoming inspection.
But in early 2019, after a
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
between North Korea and the U.S. ended without an agreement, North Korea began rebuilding of the site. A test took place in December 2019, which confirmed that the site was once again operational.
History
Signs of construction were visible during the early 1990s and became more pronounced by the early 2000s. A major progress in the construction was discovered in 2008 by
Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group, now styled Janes, is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane.
History
Jane's Informatio ...
, which requested imagery from the satellite company
DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe is an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, and operator of civilian remote sensing spacecraft. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange on 14 May 2009, selling 14.7 million shares at US ...
. Movements from the
Sanum’dong missile research factory with the erector transporter and railroad, road transportation to the space center of a prototype
Unha-3
The Unha or Eunha ( ko, 은하, 銀河, "Galaxy") is a North Korean expendable carrier rocket, which partially utilizes the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 orbital launch system.
History
North Korea's first orbital space launch attemp ...
class booster first two stages initially took place over 29–31 May 2009 possibly for logistics testing as well as personnel facilities infrastructure testing training purposes. The results of those tests suggest that military and design specialists ultimately decided to build a facilities access railroad to cut down the 15 kilometer road access logistics issues to the space center.
By early 2011 it was reported that the construction was completed and that it had been under construction for a decade.
The first official mention of the site took place in March 2012 when North Korea announced it will launch from that site the satellite
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 () was a North Korean Earth observation satellite which, according to the DPRK, was for weather forecast purposes, and whose launch was widely portrayed in the West to be a veiled ballistic missile test. The satellite was l ...
. In April 2012, prior to the launch of the satellite, Jang Myong-jin, director of the Sohae, introduced the launching process of the
Unha-3
The Unha or Eunha ( ko, 은하, 銀河, "Galaxy") is a North Korean expendable carrier rocket, which partially utilizes the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 orbital launch system.
History
North Korea's first orbital space launch attemp ...
rocket (Korean: 은하-3호, 銀河-3) during a guided media tour.
The first launch of Kwangmyongsong-3 on 12 April 2012 failed. On 1 December 2012, the Korean Central News Agency announced that a
second version of Kwangmyongsong-3 was to be launched from Sohae between 10 and 22 December 2012.
North Korea declared the launch successful, and the South Korean military and
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...
(NORAD) reported that initial indications suggested that an object had achieved orbit. North Korea had previously claimed the
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 or Gwangmyeongseong-1 ( ko, 광명성 1호, Hanja: , meaning Bright Star 1) was a satellite allegedly launched by North Korea on 31 August 1998. While the North Korean government claimed that the launch was successful, no obj ...
and
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 ( ko, 광명성 2호, meaning Bright Star-2 or Lode Star-2) was a satellite launched by North Korea on April 5, 2009.
Prior to the launch, concern was raised by other nations, particularly the United States, South Korea and ...
launches successful, despite American military sources confirming that they failed to achieve orbit.
On 7 February 2016, North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket, carrying the satellite
Kwangmyongsong-4, from the station. Critics suggest that the real purpose of the launch was test a
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
. The launch was strongly condemned by the
UN Security Council. A statement broadcast on
Korean Central Television
Korean Central Television (KCTV; ) is a television service operated by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a state-owned broadcaster in North Korea. It is broadcast terrestrially via the Pyongyang TV Tower in Moranbong-guyok, Pyongy ...
said that a new Earth observation satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, had successfully been put into orbit less than 10 minutes after lift-off from the Sohae space centre in
North Phyongan province. North Korea's
National Aerospace Development Administration
National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA; ) is the official space agency of North Korea, succeeding the Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST). It was founded on April 1, 2013.
The current basis for the activities of NADA is the ...
stated the launch was "an epochal event in developing the country's science, technology, economy and defence capability by legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes".
The launch prompted South Korea and the United States to discuss the possibility of placing an advanced missile defence system in South Korea, a move strongly opposed by both China and Russia.
Facilities
The entire facility occupies over six square kilometers, and consists of a launch site, a static rocket motor test stand, vehicle checkout and processing buildings, a launch control building, a large support area, a complex headquarters building and an entry control point. The site is five times larger than Tonghae Launch Site.
There is much speculation about the functions of different parts of the site
but the nuances of satellite photography based guesswork may not be communicated effectively in the mass media.
Western sources identified a building as a "high bay processing facility" which turned out to be the launch control centre when the site was visited by journalists. The building previously identified as the control centre was actually an observation point.
Dismantlement and International Inspection
In July 2018, North Korea began dismantling the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. Satellite images taken between 20 and 22 July showed the destruction of a rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles, space-launch vehicles and a rail-mounted processing building where space launch vehicles were assembled before being moved to the launch pad Commercial satellite imagery from 3 August 2018 confirmed that additional dismantlement activities were taking place at Sohae as well, including the destruction of facility's vertical engine test stand and fuel/oxidizer bunkers. In September 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-In signed the "Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018", which, among other things, pledged for North Korea to complete its dismantlement of Sohae and allow foreign experts to observe the dismantling of the missile engine testing site and a launch pad.
By 10 October 2018, commercial satellite imagery confirmed that the site's legacy fuel/oxidizer bunker located at the launch pad had been largely removed. Officials from South Korea's National Intelligence Service who visited the site on 31 October 2018 stated that Sohae was in fact being dismantled and was ready for an upcoming international inspection.
Reconstruction
After the
U.S.-North Korea summit in February 2019 ended without an agreement, new
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
satellite images showed that the site was undergoing reconstruction and appeared operational. On 7 December 2019, a satellite image obtained by
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
showed activity and the presence of a large shipping container at the facility's engine test stand, which observers said could indicate plans to resume testing engines which are used to power satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The next day, North Korea announced that it had carried out a "very important test" at the site, and said it would play a "significant role" in changing the country's strategic position in the near future.
N. Korea says it has conducted 'very important test' at satellite launch site
/ref>
See also
*Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, also known as Musudan-ri (), is a rocket launching site in North Korea.
Location
It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East K ...
*Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site
Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site () was the only known nuclear test site of North Korea. Nuclear tests were conducted at the site in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017.
Geography
The s ...
References
{{Coord, 39.66000, 124.70500, display=title
Nuclear program of North Korea
Rocket launch sites
Military of North Korea
Space program of North Korea