Unha

The Unha or Eunha (Korean: 은하, 銀河, "Milky Way") is a North Korean expendable carrier rocket, which partially utilizes the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile.

History

North Korea's first orbital space launch attempt occurred on August 31, 1998 and was unsuccessful. This launch attempt was performed by a Paektusan-1 rocket, which used a solid motor third stage, a Scud-missile-based second stage, and a Rodong-1 based first stage. Rodong-1 was a North Korean-developed stage thought to be a scale-up of the old Soviet Scud missile. The Paektusan-1 stood 22.5 metres tall, was 1.8 metres in diameter, and weighed about 21 tonnes.

Vehicle description

The Unha's first stage consists of four clustered Nodong motors, which themselves are enlarged Scud motors. The second stage was initially thought to be based on the SS-N-6, although it, too, is now believed to be based on Scud technology. The third and last stage might be identical to the Iranian Safir's second stage which is propelled by two small gimballed motors.