The Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST; ,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 朝鮮宇宙空間技術委員會) was the agency of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) responsible for the country's

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

. The agency was terminated and succeeded by the

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 ...

in 2013 after the Law on Space Development was passed in the 7th session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly.

History

Very little information on it is publicly available. It is known to have been founded sometime in the 1980s, and most likely is connected to the

Artillery Guidance Bureau The Korean People's Army Strategic Force (Korean: 조선인민군 전략군), previously known as the Korean People's Army Strategic Rocket Force (Korean: 조선인민군 전략로케트군) and as the Missile Guidance Bureau (Korean: 미사일� ...

of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...

Operations

The KCST was responsible for all operations concerning space exploration and construction of satellites. On 12 March 2009, North Korea signed the

Outer Space Treaty russian: link=yes, Договор о космосе es, link=yes, Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre , long_name = Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moo ...

and the

Registration Convention The Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (commonly known as the Registration Convention) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 and went into force in 1976. As of February 2022, it has been ratified ...

, after a previous declaration of preparations for a new satellite launch.

Facilities

North Korean Unha-3 rocket at launch pad

The KCST operated the

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 ...

and

Sohae Satellite Launching Station 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, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The base is located among hills close to the ...

rocket launching sites, Baekdusan-1 and

Unha 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 attempt ...

(Baekdusan-2) launchers, Kwangmyŏngsŏng satellites. South Korea and the United States accused North Korea of using these facilities and the rockets as a cover for a military ballistic missile testing program. *

built from the 2000s to 2010s with a launch pad completed in 2011. *

built from the 2000s to 2010s with a launch pad completed in 2011.

Projects

The DPRK twice announced that it had launched satellites:

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 ...

on 31 August 1998 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 ...

on 5 April 2009. The US and South Korea predicted that the launches would in actuality be military ballistic missile tests, but later confirmed that they had followed orbital launch trajectories. In 2009, the DPRK announced more ambitious future space projects including own manned space flights and development of a manned partially reusable launch vehicle.

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 ...

was launched on 13 April 2012 and ended in failure shortly after launch. A follow-up attempt the following December,

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 ...

entered polar orbit as confirmed by various countries.

Launch history

This is a list of satellites launched.

References