Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Korean: 서해위성발사장, also known as Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center and Pongdong-ri) is a rocket launching site in Tongch'ang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The spaceport was built on the site of the village Pongdong-ri which was displaced during construction. It was the site for the 13 April 2012 launch of the North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. The rocket launch failed, but on 12 December of the same year Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 was successfully launched and brought into Earth orbit. The launches were controversial as they were dismissed by the US as tests of ballistic missile technology and hence of breach of an agreement made between North Korea and the US in February 2012. On 31 October 2018, South Korean officials visited the site and confirmed it was being dismantled and ready for an upcoming inspection. But in early 2019, after a summit between North Korea and the U.S. ended without an agreement, North Korea began rebuilding of the site. A test took place in December 2019, which confirmed that the site was once again operational. The entire facility occupies over six square kilometers, and consists of a launch site, a static rocket motor test stand, vehicle checkout and processing buildings, a launch control building, a large support area, a complex headquarters building and an entry control point. The site is five times larger than Tonghae Launch Site. There is much speculation about the functions of different parts of the site but the nuances of satellite photography based guesswork may not be communicated effectively in the mass media. Western sources identified a building as a 'high bay processing facility' which turned out to be the launch control centre when the site was visited by journalists. The building previously identified as the control centre was actually an observation point.

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Inserted: 16-12-2022 09:12:15