/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15883165
> NORTH KOREA’S LAUNCH VEHICLES
> North Korea began space development with the Taepodong-1, a three-stage, liquid-fuelled booster. During its first launch in 1998, the rocket failed late in flight, Schiller noted, and “instead of giving it another shot, the whole design never appeared again”.
> The next launcher design, the Unha, featured a cluster of engines that analysts say were derived from the Soviet-era Scud missile. Its upper stage appears related to the Iranian Safir rocket, according to Western analysts. When South Korea gathered Unha debris in 2012, it found components from Britain, Switzerland, the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.
> Despite two relatively successful flights, the Unha appears to have been shelved in favor of the latest system.
>“North Korea seems to be focused on the Chollima-1,” Schiller said. “As was the case with the switch from the Taepodong-1 to the Unha, the designs have nothing in common.”