Korean Committee of Space Technology

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Very little information on it is publicly available. It is known to have been founded sometime in the 1980s,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> and most likely is connected to the <a href="/facts/Artillery_Guidance_Bureau/W3CVP8We">Artillery Guidance Bureau</a> of the <a href="/facts/Korean_People%27s_Army/DFGFDtm7">Korean People's Army</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="operations">Operations</h2>
<p>The KCST was responsible for all operations concerning <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space exploration</a> and construction of satellites. On 12 March 2009, North Korea signed the <a href="/facts/Outer_Space_Treaty/41zVGz5M">Outer Space Treaty</a> and the <a href="/facts/Registration_Convention/gKU21usp">Registration Convention</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> after a previous declaration of preparations for <a href="/facts/Kwangmyongsong-2/gIgeQSlD">a new satellite launch</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="facilities">Facilities</h2>

<p>The KCST operated the <a href="/facts/Tonghae_Satellite_Launching_Ground/3N8WPT5F">Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground</a> and <a href="/facts/Sohae_Satellite_Launching_Station/ah8sFeGD">Sohae Satellite Launching Station</a> rocket launching sites, <a href="/facts/Paektusan_(rocket)/VPPkunSF">Paektusan-1</a> and <a href="/facts/Unha/NxyrVefB">Unha</a> launchers, <a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng_program/IalfK0qA">Kwangmyŏngsŏng satellites</a>.
</p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Sohae_Satellite_Launching_Station/ah8sFeGD">Sohae Satellite Launching Station</a> built from the 2000s to 2010s with a launch pad completed in 2011.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Tonghae_Satellite_Launching_Ground/3N8WPT5F">Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground</a> built from the 2000s to 2010s with a launch pad completed in 2011.</li></ul>
<h2 id="projects">Projects</h2>
<p>The DPRK twice announced that it had launched satellites: <a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-1/hf6mR6Lu">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1</a> on 31 August 1998 and <a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2/gIgeQSlD">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2</a> 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.
</p><p>In 2009, the DPRK announced more ambitious future space projects including its own <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">crewed space flights</a> and development of a crewed partially reusable launch vehicle.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-3/f50nvKpy">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3</a> was launched on 13 April 2012 and ended in failure shortly after launch.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> A follow-up attempt the following December, <a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-3_Unit_2/Hq8rLDdy">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2</a> entered polar orbit as confirmed by various countries.
</p>
<h2 id="launch-history">Launch history</h2>
<p>This is a list of satellites launched.
</p>
Launch history<table><tbody><tr><td>Satellite</td><td>Launch Date (UTC)</td><td>Rocket</td><td>Launch Site</td><td>Status</td><td>Purpose</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-1/hf6mR6Lu">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1</a></td><td>31 August 1998</td><td><a href="/facts/Taepodong-1/VPPkunSF">Taepodong-1</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Tonghae_Satellite_Launching_Ground/3N8WPT5F">Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground</a></td><td>Failed to reach orbit</td><td>Technology experimental satellite</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>4 July 2006</td><td><a href="/facts/Unha/NxyrVefB">Unha</a>-1</td><td></td><td>Launch Failure</td><td>Rocket test (See <a href="/facts/2006_North_Korean_missile_test/dbLEDPsH">2006 North Korean missile test</a>)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2/gIgeQSlD">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2</a></td><td>5 April 2009</td><td><a href="/facts/Unha/NxyrVefB">Unha</a>-2</td><td>Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground</td><td>Failed to reach orbit</td><td>Communications satellite</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-3/f50nvKpy">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3</a></td><td>13 April 2012</td><td><a href="/facts/Unha/NxyrVefB">Unha</a>-3</td><td><a href="/facts/Sohae_Satellite_Launching_Station/ah8sFeGD">Sohae Satellite Launching Station</a></td><td>Launch Failure</td><td>Observation satellite</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-3_Unit_2/Hq8rLDdy">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2</a></td><td>12 December 2012</td><td>Unha-3</td><td>Sohae Satellite Launching Station</td><td>Successful launch</td><td>Observation satellite</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-4/stCJ7BSe">Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4</a></td><td>7 February 2016</td><td>Unha</td><td>Sohae Satellite Launching Station</td><td>Successful launch</td><td>Observation satellite</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Spaceflight portal</li><li>North Korea portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/North_Korean_space_program/DIxU3baP">North Korean space program</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_government_space_agencies/2Hs0qa3x">List of government space agencies</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_space_agencies/2Hs0qa3x">List of space agencies</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/National_Aerospace_Development_Administration/rYntIzyE">National Aerospace Development Administration</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Despite Clinton, Korea has rights". Retrieved 15 February 2016. <a href="http://www.workers.org/2009/editorials/korea_0305/" target="_blank">http://www.workers.org/2009/editorials/korea_0305/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"KCNA Report on DPRK's Accession to International Space Treaty and Convention". KCNA. 2009-03-12. Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-03-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090402023049/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200903/news12/20090312-11ee.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20090402023049/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200903/news12/20090312-11ee.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Choe Sang-Hun (23 December 2012). "North Korean Missile Said to Have Military Purpose". New York Times. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/world/asia/north-korean-rocket-had-military-purpose-seoul-says.html?_r=1&" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/world/asia/north-korean-rocket-had-military-purpose-seoul-says.html?_r=1&</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"UN Security Council condemns North Korea rocket launch". BBC News. Retrieved 15 February 2016. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20697922" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20697922</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"朝鲜宣布发展太空计划抗衡"西方强权"". Rodong Sinmun. 2009-02-08. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2009. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230115002936/https://www.minzuwang.com/inc/news_view.asp?newsid=12503" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20230115002936/https://www.minzuwang.com/inc/news_view.asp?newsid=12503</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"North Korea rocket launch 'fails'". April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17698438" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17698438</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Korean Committee of Space Technology open-in-new

Korean Committee of Space Technology