Hidden Ambition: North Korea

A Taepodong-2 medium-range ballistic missile, pictured here with with the North Korean mobile launch platform, the Baekdusan.





North Korea's space ambitions, like most of the isolated regime's activities, are a closely guarded secret. The Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST) was founded sometime in the 1980's and has been quietly adapting the North Korean Artillery Guidance Bureau's rocket technology in order to send satellite payloads into orbit. It should go without saying the KCST is controlled by the Korean People's Army and IS NOT a civilian agency. While many countries' space agencies have close ties to their national militaries, North Korea's KCST is dedicated to advancing the military agenda of dictator Kim Jong-il.

Using a derivative of the North Korean-made Taepodong-2 intermediate ballistic missile, the KCST attempted to launch a satellite into orbit at 3:07 GMT 31 August 1998. The launch of the first Unha rocket is one of two official attempts by North Korea to put the Kwangmyongsong-1 payload into space. Space technology is prohibitively expensive and North Korea can't afford the economic drag of a fully-funded space agency. North Korea's obsession with obtaining nuclear technology, most likely to gain the bomb's bully pulpit, also means the regime can't afford to adequately pursue a real space program. According to Western intelligence agencies, the Kwangmyongsong satellite payload failed to reach orbital height following a faulty third-stage separation.

5 April 2009, North Korea publicly announced another attempted satellite launch using the Baeksudan-2, another Taepodong-2 derivative rocket. Western space agencies are not currently tracking any objects originating from the Kwangmyongsong-2's payload capsule and the United States is suggesting the KCST's announced "science mission" was nothing more than another ballistic missile test.

KCST announced in 2009 that they are working towards putting the first North Korean into space. Based on the North's results with the failed satellite launches, it will probably be years before this is even possible. The future of the KCST and North Korean manned spaceflight would be even more jeopardized if Kim Jong-il's regime were to collapse due to a decline in Kim's personal health, the devastating international embargo on North Korea's economy, or the outbreak of hostilities following an escalation of military forces in response to North Korea's now-public nuclear program.

• Country: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea

• Agency Name: Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST)
  

• Affiliation: military

• Annual budget: unknown

• Launch-platform: 3-stage Unha rocket, solid fuel (nitric acid, dimethylhydrazine)

• Unmanned capability: unsubstantiated claims of two orbital satellites, Kwangmyongsong 1 & 2

• Manned capability: none

• Lunar ambitions: yes

Be careful.... - Jack