Abstract: On 31 August 1998, North Korea flight-tested a new, three-stage, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM)/space launch vehicle (SLV) referred to by Western analysts and reporters as the Taepo Dong- 1. The Taepo Dong- 1 traversed a range of approximately 1,000 miles on a trajectory consistent with a satellite launch, which took it across the Japanese archipelago. Its first stage fell into the Sea of Japan, the second stage landed in the Pacific Ocean off the Sanriku coast of northeastern Honshu, and the third stage failed during powered flight. After maintaining four days of silence, North Korean officials stated that the Western labeled MRBM flight test was not the test firing of a ballistic missile but was a three-stage rocket launch of a small satellite, Kwangmyongsong (Bright Star), into a low-earth orbit with a period of approximately three hours. The US Space Command's extensive space surveillance network detected no satellite entering orbit or subsequently on orbit. Whether the 31 August 1998 North Korean event was an attempted satellite launch, or an MRBM test-flight, will perhaps never be decided conclusively, nonetheless, the event was pivotal in that it was a very unpleasant surprise to US, Japanese, and South Korean officials and analysts. The US intelligence community had predicted the launch of the missile, but the existence of the third stage was completely unknown. Experts had assessed that the North Koreans could not master staging technologies at least not yet. Analysis of a video of the test flight revealed that the first stage of the Taepo Dong- 1 was a No Dong, and the second stage was a Scud-C. Cyrillic numbering covered portions of the missile, suggesting possible Russian involvement-both materials and technical expertise in the Taepo Dong-1's construction.
| Limitations: |
 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE |
| Description: |
Paper no. 21 |
| Pages: |
37 |
| Report Date: |
JUL 2000 |
| Report Number: |
A758183 |
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