Sohae Satellite Launching Station: Launch Pad 2012-2021

North Korea has made major improvements to the Sohae Satellite Launching Station since 2012, transforming it into the country’s showcase space launch center.

The launch pad at Sohae has been used for all of North Korea’s satellite launches since 2012. Major improvements to the pad began in 2013, including modifications to the gantry tower to accommodate larger rockets and adding on-pad launch support facilities. While the launch pad was partially dismantled in 2018 after the first US-DPRK summit in Singapore, it was promptly rebuilt in 2019 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement at the second US-DPRK summit in Hanoi.

Little activity has been observed since then, although Kim Jong Un highlighted the importance of the site in his report to the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021.