Quick Takes: No Signs of Recent Tests at the Magunpo Engine Test Facility
Commercial satellite imagery from January 10, 2018 shows no indications of any recent solid-fuel engine tests at the Magunpo Solid-fuel Rocket Engine Test Facility.[1] The last test conducted there, according to US government sources, was around mid-October of last year. The facility is being well-maintained and appears ready for future testing.
Figure 1. No indication of solid-fuel engine tests conducted at Magunpo.
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First identified during April 2013, the Magunpo Solid-fuel Rocket Engine Test Facility is the largest such facility identified to date in North Korea. Little is known concerning its operations. It was not publicized by the North Koreans until March 2016, when Kim Jong Un “guided” a test of a large solid-fuel rocket engine there.