Chŏllima 1

On 30 May 2023, Chollima-1 made its first orbital launch attempt, from Sohae Satellite Launching Station, carrying the military reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 (meaning Telescope-1).[2] However, the launch failed to achieve orbit when the second stage ignited too early in the mission,[3] due to engine unreliability and fuel instability according to officials.[4] The launch vehicle crashed into the Yellow Sea.[5]

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense identified and recovered an object that appears to be a rocket stage or an interstage in the sea about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Eocheong Island.[5] This debris, identified as being the second stage of the launcher, nevertheless sank, complicating its recovery.[6][7][8][9] Other recovery operations followed for 36 days and made it possible to find the third stage of the launcher as well as the Malligyong-1 satellite, which were thus analyzed jointly with the United States, both to verify the origin of its components (and identify supply subsidiaries and foreign suppliers) than to assess the performance of the satellite, which was considered to be very low for military use.[10][11][12]

Although North Korea hardly ever communicates in advance about its missile tests, it does when it wants to launch satellites, probably to pose as a respectful space power.[13] The country had therefore warned Japan but not South Korea that it would carry out a space launch between May 31 and June 11 after having mentioned the finalization of the satellite a few weeks earlier.[14][15]

However, despite the fears publicly expressed by these two countries of a possible disguised missile launch, South Korean maritime patrols were quickly set up in the fallout zones of the rocket stages, which allowed them to quickly recover debris.

However, missile alerts (sirens and SMS) were triggered in Seoul and Okinawa Prefecture by mistake.[16]

North Korea announced a second attempt to launch a new copy of Malligyong-1 for the end of August 2023, and revealed the fallout zones of the stages. The second launch attempt took place on 23 August 2023. The launch resulted again in a failure with the loss of the satellite, this time caused by an anomalous activation of the flight termination system during the flight of the third stage of the rocket.[17] The country immediately announces a new attempt for October 2023.

Chollima-1 has 3 stages. This new rocket, based on images released by North Korea, appears to be a different launcher from those of the previous Unha family. It appears to be abandoning the Scud heritage and take a design based on the recent Hwasong-15 and 17 ICBMs with advanced rocket engines based on the suspiciously acquired Soviet RD-250.[18][19] Although the capabilities of the launch vehicle are not public, Chollima-1 appears to be able to launch payloads of up to 300 kg into low Earth orbit.[20]

Similarly, analysts believe that if North Korea still manages to supply itself with foreign components despite the sanctions, it manages to increasingly master local construction, becoming autonomous.[20]