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Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
무수단리
North Korea
	Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
Coordinates	40°51′30″N 129°41′11″E / 40.85833°N 129.68639°E
Site history
Built	1980s
Built by	North Korea

Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
	Circle shows the North Korean Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground (previously Musudan-ri) in a regional context
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	무수단리
Hancha	舞水端里
Revised Romanization	Musudan-ri
McCune–Reischauer	Musudan-ri

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The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground(동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (Korean: 무수단리),^[1] is a rocket launching site in North Korea.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Location

It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East Korea Bay. The area was formerly known as Taep'o-dong (대포동) during the period when Korea was occupied by Japan, and the Taepodong rockets take their name from this. This single loose-surface road is susceptible to seasonal flooding. The site is 45 km northeast of port city of Kimchaek and 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the town of Kilju (길주읍). There is a small wharf located at the fishing village of Tongha-dong but can only accommodate vessels smaller than 40 meters in length.

History

By the early 1980s, North Korea needed a flight-test facility for its program to reverse-engineer and produce copies of the Scud-B which it acquired from the Soviet Union in the late 60s. Previously, North Korea used a facility at Hwajin-ri (華進里), Pyongwon-kun, South Pyongan Province to test for anti-ship missiles and probably FROGs, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and other rockets. However, Hawjin-ri had insufficient range for the Hwasong-5, which would enter Chinese territorial waters during a test. The construction of the facility continued off and on throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Construction was made by the 117th Regiment under the Air Force Construction Bureau (空軍建設部) of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces.^[5] Construction of the launch pad was completed in 1985. During the early stage of construction, the site had an extremely rudimentary infrastructure, such as a few roads, a command bunker, a radar facility, and modest storage and support facilities.

However, by the early 1990s, the Tonghae site was reportedly expanded from 2 km to 9 km and the following infrastructure was added: a missile assembly facility, a fuel storage facility, a guidance and range control center, and tracking facilities.

The first launch from the site is reported to have occurred on 1 April 1984.^[2] Since that year, military rockets of the types Hwasong, Rodong and Taepodong-1 were launched from Musudan-ri. In 1998, North Korean media reported the successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 satellite by a Baekdusan-1 SLV from Musudan-ri. North Korea claimed their first satellite was successfully placed into orbit, but no independent sources have confirmed this. A review of the rocket engine test stand on DigitalGlobe imagery coverage from 15 February 2002 to 26 February 2009 revealed a variety of activity, including drying grain on the concrete, the presence of cylindrical storage tanks and the arrival/departure of multiple support vehicles and personnel. A second failed satellite launch attempt apparently occurred in 2006.

A total of 13 launches are reported from the site, with the last happening on 5 April 2009.^[2] The facility is in caretaker status as of 2020^[6] and has been since 2014.^[7]

Facilities

The facilities at Musudan-ri are modest, consisting of a disused launch pad at 40°51′21″N 129°39′58″E / 40.8557°N 129.6660°E / 40.8557; 129.6660 (Launch pad) and a new launch pad at 40°51′30″N 129°41′12″E / 40.8582°N 129.6866°E / 40.8582; 129.6866. The disused launch pad consists of a 30-meter umbilical tower with a top-mounted gantry crane, a flame blast bucket, a launch blockhouse with a connecting access tunnel, two semi-buried liquid fuel storage buildings, a concrete apron/pad and multiple small support buildings.^[8] An engine test stand at 40°51′08″N 129°40′48″E / 40.8523°N 129.6799°E / 40.8523; 129.6799 (Engine test stand), a missile assembly/checkout building at 40°51′21″N 129°39′33″E / 40.8558°N 129.6592°E / 40.8558; 129.6592, a missile control building at 40°51′47″N 129°39′37″E / 40.8630°N 129.6604°E / 40.8630; 129.6604 (Missile control building) and a Ground Tracking Facility (coordinates obtained from Wikimapia in April 2024).

References

^ McDowell, Jonathan (2 March 2009). "Jonathan's Space Report No. 607". Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Musudan". Encyclopedia Astronautica. 28 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
^ "Musudan-ri". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
^ "GlobalSecurity.org - SITREP Situation Report | The Meaning of the North Korean Missile Launch". sitrep.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
^ "Two Facilities Seen at North Korean missile Base, Newspaper Says," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 3 August 1999
^ Jacob Bogle (11 January 2020). "The Current State of North Korea's Satellite and Missile Facilities". AccessDPRK. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^ Joseph Bermudez; Victor Cha (17 December 2019). "December 2019 Update: Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground". CSIS. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^ ""Musudan Test Facility", FAS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.