NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Failure

Kwangmyŏngsŏng 1

Launch Time
Mon Aug 31, 1998 03:07 UTC

First, and last flight of Taepodong-1. First North Korean orbital launch.
The third stage didn't separate from the second, the launcher fell back over Japan.

Rocket

Taepodong 1
KCST
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 280 kN
Payload to LEO: 20 kg
Payload to GTO: 0 kg
Stages: 3
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 24.0 m
Fairing Diameter: 0.88 m
Fairing Height: 3.1 m

Mission Details

Kwangmyŏngsŏng 1

Kwangmyŏngsŏng 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 objects were ever tracked in orbit from the launch, and outside North Korea it is considered to have been a failure. It was the first satellite to be launched as part of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng program, and the first satellite that North Korea attempted to launch.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 30.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

Pad 1, Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, North Korea

Stats

1998

54th orbital launch attempt

Korean Committee of Space Technology

1st mission
2nd mission of 1998
1st failed mission

Taepodong 1

1st mission
1st mission of 1998
1st failed mission