Taepodong-1: Difference between revisions

|image = Taepodong-1.png

'''Taepodong-1''' ({{lang-ko|대포동-1}}) was a three-stage [[technology demonstrator]] developed by [[North Korea]], a development step toward an [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]]. The missile was derived originally from the [[Scud]] rocket and was tested once in 1998 as a space launch vehicle. As a space launch vehicle, it was sometimes called the '''[[Paektu Mountain|Paektusan]] 1'''.<ref name=astronautix-paektusan1>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/p/paektusan1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227202658/http://astronautix.com/p/paektusan1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |title=Paektusan 1 |first=Mark |last=Wade |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica |accessdateaccess-date=27 April 2017}}</ref>

On August 31, 1998, North Korea announced that they had used this rocket to launch their first satellite [[Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1]] from a pad on the [[Musudan-ri]] peninsula. However, the satellite failed to achieve orbit; outside observers conjecture that the additional third stage either failed to fire or malfunctioned.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/opapers/op2/lrdes.htm|title=A History of Ballistic Missile Development in the DPRK|work=Center for Nonproliferation Studies Occasional Papers|accessdateaccess-date=2006-04-08|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011111233437/http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/opapers/op2/lrdes.htm|archivedatearchive-date=2001-11-11}}</ref> This is contrary to official statements of the North Korean state media, which stated that the satellite achieved orbit about 5 minutes after launch.<ref>Broadcast excerpted in {{cite webencyclopedia|url=http://astronautix.com/details/kwa11163.htm|title=Kwangmyongsong|workencyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|accessdateaccess-date=2006-04-08|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422070640/http://www.astronautix.com/details/kwa11163.htm|archivedatearchive-date=2006-04-22}}</ref> On this single launch, the main two-stage booster flew for 1,646&nbsp;km without any significant problems.<ref>[http://www.rian.ru/world/20060707/51040626.html Все названия испытываемых в КНДР ракет в иностранной печати придуманы], [[RIA Novosti]], 07-07-200607–07–2006.</ref>

The rocket was launched eastward, passing over Japan at an altitude of over 200&nbsp;km. The second stage came down into the [[Pacific Ocean]] about 60&nbsp;km past Japan, and the third stage about 600&nbsp;km beyond Japan.<ref name=fas-response>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/missile/td-1-japan99.htm |title=Response of the Defense Agency to the Missile Launch by North Korea |publisher=Federation of Atomic Scientists |work=Defense Agency (Japan) |accessdateaccess-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> According to post-launch analysis of the launch vehicle, debris from the third stage fell as far as 4,000 kilometers from the launch pad. Some analysts believe that a three-stage space booster variant of the Taepodong-1 could be capable of travelling as far as 5,900 kilometers with a very small payload.<ref>[https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/101748.pdf CRS report for Congress].</ref>

In 2003, the US [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] reported to the Congress: "We have no information to suggest Pyongyang intends to deploy the Taepo Dong 1 (TD-1) as a [[surface-to-surface missile]] in North Korea. We believe instead that the vehicle was a test bed for multi-stage missile technologies."<ref>U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, [http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2003_hr/021103qfr-dia.pdf World Wide Threat Hearing, 11 February 2003].</ref> In 2009, the US [[National Air and Space Intelligence Center]] assessed that the Taepodong-1 was a technology demonstrator, a development step toward longer-range missile development.<ref name=NASIC-1031-0985-09>{{cite report |url=http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/NASIC2009.pdf |title=Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat |work=National Air and Space Intelligence Center |publisher=Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency |id=NASIC-1031-0985-09 |date=April 2009 |accessdateaccess-date=20 February 2013}}</ref>

The [[Taepodong-2]], or [[Unha-2]], was the successor to the Taepodong-1 technology demonstrator, with a first (unsuccessful) test launch in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/04/korea.missile/index.html |work=CNN |title=CNN.com - U.S. officials: North Korea tests long-range missile - Jul 4, 2006 |date=July 5, 2006 |access-date=2023-12-19}}</ref>