Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
| 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 |
| 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 |
The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground(동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (
Location
It lies in southern
History
By the early 1980s, North Korea needed a flight-test facility for its program to reverse-engineer and produce copies of the
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.
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 and a new launch pad at 40°51′30″N 129°41′12″E / 40.8582°N 129.6866°E. 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, a missile assembly/checkout building at 40°51′21″N 129°39′33″E / 40.8558°N 129.6592°E, a missile control building at 40°51′47″N 129°39′37″E / 40.8630°N 129.6604°E and a Ground Tracking Facility (coordinates obtained from Wikimapia in April 2024).
See also
- Sohae Satellite Launching Station
- Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site
- Korean People's Army
- Geography of North Korea
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.