🇰🇵

Sohae Satellite Launching Station

NADA (National Aerospace Development Administration) · Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan, North Korea, North Korea

ActiveTrust: Trade-press onlyⓘ

Launch Pads

—

Annual Launches

0-2

Max Payload (LEO)

—

Established

1990

Overview

Sohae Satellite Launching Station, located in Tongchang-ri on North Korea's west coast, is the DPRK's primary orbital launch facility and a major focus of international sanctions monitoring. It hosted the first North Korean orbital success in December 2012 with Unha-3, and in November 2023 successfully placed the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit aboard the new Chollima-1 rocket after two earlier 2023 failures.

Site Details

Region	Asia
Country	🇰🇵 North Korea
Coordinates	39.6601° N, 124.7053° E
Ownership	Military
Parent Entity	Korean Committee of Space Technology / NADA — under DPRK Workers' Party Central Military Commission
Regulatory Regime	DPRK domestic only; not a member of any international space treaty regime. UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 / 1874 / 2087 / 2270 prohibit DPRK launches using ballistic-missile technology.
Latitude Advantage	39.66°N — high-latitude site; southward azimuth over Yellow Sea provides only viable trajectory due to overflight politics with China, Japan, and South Korea
Azimuth Range	170°–200° (southward over Yellow Sea / East China Sea; physically constrained by need to avoid Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean airspace)

Rockets

Chollima-1
Unha-3
Paektusan-1

Companies & Anchor Tenants

Anchor Tenants

NADA (sole tenant)

Active Users

NADA (National Aerospace Development Administration)

Key Features

DPRK's primary orbital launch site, located on the west coast near the Chinese border
Hosted North Korea's first orbital success in December 2012 (Unha-3 / Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2)
Modernized 2023 with new pad infrastructure for the Chollima-1 liquid-fuel launcher
Subject to UN Security Council sanctions monitoring; launches treated as ICBM-related
Coastal positioning enables southward azimuth over the Yellow Sea toward the Philippines

Notable Launches

Unha-3 (December 2012) — First DPRK orbital success, Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2 satellite
Kwangmyongsong-4 (February 2016) — Second orbital success on Unha-3 derivative
Chollima-1 maiden flight (May 2023) — Failed shortly after liftoff
Chollima-1 second flight (August 2023) — Third-stage failure
Chollima-1 third flight (November 2023) — Success; Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite in orbit

Strategic Context

Strategic Value

Dual-use facility — orbital launches share technology with DPRK's ICBM program and are universally treated as sanctions violations. Strategic value is geopolitical signaling and reconnaissance-satellite deployment, not commercial space access.

Recent Activity

Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite placed in orbit November 2023; subsequent 2024 attempt at second reconnaissance satellite failed during ascent; pad reconstruction observed via commercial satellite imagery through 2025.

Future Milestones

2026
Additional Malligyong-class reconnaissance satellite launch attempts
2027
Possible new larger launcher debut per Kim Jong Un 2024 statements

Supported Orbit Types

← View all spaceports