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.
Investor Brief
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.
Ownership
Parent Entity
Regulatory Regime
Anchor Tenants
Latitude Advantage
Launch Azimuth Range
Country
🇰🇵North Korea
Region
Asia
Established
1,990
Launches / Year
2
Years Active
36
Strategic Position
39.6601° N, 124.7053° E
Azimuth: 170°–200° (southward over Yellow Sea / East China Sea; physically constrained by need to avoid Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean airspace)
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
Future Milestones
- 2026
Additional Malligyong-class reconnaissance satellite launch attempts
- 2027
Possible new larger launcher debut per Kim Jong Un 2024 statements
About
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.
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
Rockets That Launch Here
Companies Operating Here
Orbit Types
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