physics

Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground

Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground rather than just read about it. In short: The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground (Korean: 동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (무수단리), is a rocket launching site in North Korea. Location It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East Korea Bay.

Key takeaways

Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground (Korean: 동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (무수단리), is a rocket launching site in North Korea.

Location It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East Korea Bay. The area was formerly known as Taep'o-dong (대포동) during the period when Korea was occupied by Japan, and the Taepodong rockets take their name from this. This single loose-surface road is susceptible to seasonal flooding. The site is 45 km northeast of port city of Kimchaek and 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the town of Kilju (길주읍). There is a small wharf located at the fishing village of Tongha-dong but can only accommodate vessels smaller than 40 meters in length.

History By the early 1980s, North Korea needed a flight-test facility for its program to reverse-engineer and produce copies of the Scud-B which it acquired from the Soviet Union in the late 60s. Previously, North Korea used a facility at Hwajin-ri, Pyongwon-kun, South Pyongan Province to test for anti-ship missiles and probably FROGs, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and other rockets. However, Hawjin-ri had insufficient range for the Hwasong-5, which would enter Chinese territorial waters during a test. The construction of the facility continued off and on throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Construction was made by the 117th Regiment under the Air Force Construction Bureau of the Ministry of People's Armed Forces. Construction of the launch pad was completed in 1985. During the early stage of construction, the site had an extremely rudimentary infrastructure, such as a few roads, a command bunker, a radar facility, and modest storage and support facilities. However, by the early 1990s, the Tonghae site was reportedly expanded from 2 km to 9 km and the following infrastructure was added: a missile assembly facility, a fuel storage facility, a guidance and range control center, and tracking facilities. The first launch from the site is reported to have occurred on 1 April 1984. Since that year, military rockets of the types Hwasong, Rodong and Taepodong-1 were launched from Musudan-ri. In 1998, North Korean media reported the successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 satellite by a Paektusan-1 SLV from Musudan-ri. North Korea claimed their first satellite was successfully placed into orbit, but no independent sources have confirmed this. A review of the rocket engine test stand on DigitalGlobe imagery coverage from 15 February 2002 to 26 February 2009 revealed a variety of activity, including drying grain on the concrete, the presence of cylindrical storage tanks and the arrival/departure of multiple support vehicles and personnel. A second failed satellite launch attempt apparently occurred in 2009. A total of 13 launches are reported from the site, with the last happening on 5 April 2009. The facility is in caretaker status as of 2020 and has been since 2014.

Facilities

The facilities at Musudan-ri are modest, consisting of a disused launch pad at 40.8557°N 129.6660°E / 40.8557; 129.6660 (Launch pad) and a new launch pad at 40.8582°N 129.6866°E / 40.8582; 129.6866. The disused launch pad consists of a 30-meter umbilical tower with a top-mounted gantry crane, a flame blast bucket, a launch blockhouse with a connecting access tunnel, two semi-buried liquid fuel storage buildings, a concrete apron/pad and multiple small support buildings. An engine test stand at 40.8523°N 129.6799°E / 40.8523; 129.6799 (Engine test stand), a missile assembly/checkout building at 40.8558°N 129.6592°E / 40.8558; 129.6592 (Missile assembly/checkout building), a missile control building at 40.8630°N 129.6604°E / 40.8630; 129.6604 (Missile control building) and a Ground Tracking Facility (coordinates obtained from Wikimapia in April 2024).

See also Sohae Satellite Launching Station Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site Sinpung-dong Ballistic Missile Operating Base Korean People's Army Geography of North Korea

References

Illustrations

Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground

In research: Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Military installations of North Korea, North Hamgyong Province, Nuclear program of North Korea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in simple terms?

The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground (Korean: 동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (무수단리), is a rocket launching site in North Korea. Location It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East Korea Bay.

Why does Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground.