How many North Korean satellite launch attempts?

[Phillip Clark]

How many attempts have there been by the North Koreans to launch a satellite?

We know about Kwangmyongsong 1 launched on August 31st, 1998 and Kwangmyongsong 2 launched on Apri;l 4th, 2009.   And Kwangmyongsong 3 is scheduled in a week or so.

However Charles Vick has pointed me in the direction of the following analysis of his:  http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/td-2-flighttest.htm.   This suggests that the second launch attempt was on July 4th, 2006.   At the time of the launch - during a major series of missile firings - I flagged it as a possible orbital attempt in my "Worldwide Satellite Launches" but I was not aware of any information which apparently confirmed this.

Since neither of of the acknowledged Kwangmyongsong launches reached orbit, if the July 2006 launch was intended to be orbital, why didn't the North Koreans claim it as a Kwangmyongsong?   Maybe the failure was so early in the flight that they decided to ignore any claim of an orbital attempt?

[Steven Pietrobon]

Yes, I remember the 4 July 2006 attempt. According to my records it was launched at 1801 GMT and reached an altitude of 4.5 km for a 2 minute flight. Apparently there was a failure very shortly after liftoff.

[Phillip Clark]

I have always been puzzled about the designator Unha-2 for the Kwangmyongsong 2 launch vehicle.   What was Unha-1?   Not the launch vehicle for Kwangmyongsong 1 - that was called Pekdosan-1.

Now we have Unha-3 for the current launch.   I wonder whether the launch vehicle is simply called Unha and the -2, -3 are launch vehicle numbers?   In which case the missing Unha-1 could be the July 2006 launch failure.

Of course, the Unha-3 could simply refer to an uprated version of Unha-2, which would mean that Unha-1 is still MIA.

[William Graham]

I have always been puzzled about the designator Unha-2 for the Kwangmyongsong 2 launch vehicle.   What was Unha-1?   Not the launch vehicle for Kwangmyongsong 1 - that was called Pekdosan-1.

Now we have Unha-3 for the current launch.   I wonder whether the launch vehicle is simply called Unha and the -2, -3 are launch vehicle numbers?   In which case the missing Unha-1 could be the July 2006 launch failure.

Of course, the Unha-3 could simply refer to an uprated version of Unha-2, which would mean that Unha-1 is still MIA.

The 2006 launch is identified as a "Taepodong-2", which is frequently misrepresented as the correct Korean name for the rocket. My understanding, however, is that "Taepodong" is a name given to the rocket by either US or South Korean intelligence, since its real name is not known, similar to the Soviet R-11 and R-17 missiles being identified as "Scud" by NATO.

I would suggest that Unha is simply the North Korean name for that rocket/missile, and likewise, the "Taepodong-1" is actually called Paektusan. Hence, Paektusan-1 would be the first flight of the Paektusan rocket, the 2006 launch would have been "Unha-1", the first flight of the Unha. Unha-2 and 3 would be the second and third Uhna launches, respectively.

[jcm]

I agree with William. But I think the 2006 launch was probably not an orbital attempt
(it would have been in their interest to say so if it was)

[Blackstar]

The 2006 launch is identified as a "Taepodong-2", which is frequently misrepresented as the correct Korean name for the rocket. My understanding, however, is that "Taepodong" is a name given to the rocket by either US or South Korean intelligence, since its real name is not known, similar to the Soviet R-11 and R-17 missiles being identified as "Scud" by NATO.

U.S. intelligence, and it was based upon the launch site--so "Taepodong-2" was the second type of rocket observed at that location.

U.S. intelligence agencies have changed the way they designated foreign launchers over the years. When a rocket was first observed in satellite photos, it was given a designation based upon the specific launch pad. Thus, the first time that US spy satellites spotted the Soviet N-1 rocket, they called it the "J vehicle" because it was spotted at Launch Complex J at Tyura-Tam (other launch complexes were designated A, B, C, D, E..). Once the vehicle was launched and was tracked in flight, it received a new designation, "TT" followed by a number (I forget what it was for the N-1/J vehicle). Later, they went to a different system, using "SS" for "surface to surface" missile like the SS-18, SS-20, and "SL" for "space launch" vehicle.

I have seen "Taepodong" abbreviated as "TD," so it was sometimes designated the "TD-2."

[ChileVerde]

Thus, the first time that US spy satellites spotted the Soviet N-1 rocket, they called it the "J vehicle" because it was spotted at Launch Complex J at Tyura-Tam (other launch complexes were designated A, B, C, D, E..). Once the vehicle was launched and was tracked in flight, it received a new designation, "TT" followed by a number (I forget what it was for the N-1/J vehicle). Later, they went to a different system, using "SS" for "surface to surface" missile like the SS-18, SS-20, and "SL" for "space launch" vehicle.

I'm not sure about the pad designators, which I believe were used more in the early days, but my understanding is that the facility designators (TT, KY, PL...) were assigned when information became available that a new vehicle was under development at the facility in question. That was used until the purpose of the vehicle was determined and/or it was judged that the vehicle had become operational or was close to it, at which time a functional designator (SS, SL, AA etc) was assigned. So the N-1 (TT-05) would have become the SL-15 if it had succeeded.

[Skyrocket]

I agree with William. But I think the 2006 launch was probably not an orbital attempt
(it would have been in their interest to say so if it was)

I agree, too.

[Blackstar]

I'm not sure about the pad designators, which I believe were used more in the early days, but my understanding is that the facility designators (TT, KY, PL...) were assigned when information became available that a new vehicle was under development at the facility in question. That was used until the purpose of the vehicle was determined and/or it was judged that the vehicle had become operational or was close to it, at which time a functional designator (SS, SL, AA etc) was assigned. So the N-1 (TT-05) would have become the SL-15 if it had succeeded.

I've seen TT, KY, PL designations from around the mid-1960s. I don't think they date much earlier than that. And I'm pretty sure that they were only applied to vehicles that flew, not to ones that were simply observed on the ground, although this could have changed over time. The N-1 did receive the designation SL-15. I've seen that in declassified documents. In fact, I've seen combinations, such as documents referring to the TT-05 and the SL-15 as the same thing.

[Vahe231991]

I have always been puzzled about the designator Unha-2 for the Kwangmyongsong 2 launch vehicle.   What was Unha-1?   Not the launch vehicle for Kwangmyongsong 1 - that was called Pekdosan-1.

Now we have Unha-3 for the current launch.   I wonder whether the launch vehicle is simply called Unha and the -2, -3 are launch vehicle numbers?   In which case the missing Unha-1 could be the July 2006 launch failure.

Of course, the Unha-3 could simply refer to an uprated version of Unha-2, which would mean that Unha-1 is still MIA.

Since the Paektusan-2 rocket that lofted the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite into orbit in February 2016 was dubbed "Kwangmyongsong" in the KCNA news report about the Kwangmyongsong-4 launch rather than Unha, it is possible that Kim Jong-il had the Paektusan-2 SLV renamed Unha in reference to his youngest son and successor, Kim Jong-un. On page 463 of the book Emerging Space Powers: The New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East and South-America there are images of the failed July 2006 rocket launch that aired on a July 2009 video report of DPRK TV News, and given that the first launch of the Simorgh was suborbital, it is possible that the July 2006 launch may have carried a boilerplate-type payload given that it was basically a suborbital flight of the Paektusan-2/Unha.