The Taepodong-2 is a three stage, liquid-fueled, militarized version of North Korea’s Unha-3 satellite launch vehicle. While the Unha-3 is intended to place satellites into orbit, the Taepodong-2 carries a reentry vehicle for a military payload. It has an estimated range of 10,000 km with a 1,000 kg payload.¹

Taepodong-2 Development

North Korea reportedly began development of the Taepodong-2 alongside its Taepodong-1 missile in 1990. The Taepodong-2 is larger version of the Taepodong-1; roughly 32 meters longer and as much as 2.4 meters wider.² Pakistan and Iran apparently participated in the Taepodong/Unha development effort, and in 2004, Pyongyang offered to export fully-built missiles to several states, including Iran.³

North Korea first tested the Taepodong-2 in July 2006, which ended in failure. A second test took place in April 2009; the missile travelled about 3,800 km before landing in the Pacific Ocean east of Japan. The third test, in April of 2012, was also a failure. The missile flew roughly two minutes before exploding. Both the 2009 and 2012 tests took place using the space launch-configured Unha vehicle.

On December 12, 2012, North Korea successfully placed a satellite, the Kwamongsong-3, into orbit using an Unha space launch vehicle. According to U.S. defense officials, the satellite entered an unrecoverable tumble while in orbit.⁴

North Korea conducted its fifth flight test of the Unha rocket on February 7, 2016, placing the Kwamongsong-4 satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. Despite initial tumbling, the satellite has apparently entered a stable orbit.⁵

Taepodong-2 Design & Specifications

The Taepodong-2 is thought to employ engines borrowed from the kerosene-fueled Nodong missile. This includes four Nodong engines in its first stage, and a single Nodong engine in the second stage, with an unknown solid or liquid-fueled single motor in the third stage.⁶ Other analyses contend that the Taepodong-2 may employ a Scud missile engine in the second stage, and an R-27 missile’s vernier thrusters in the third stage.⁷

Given its size and requirement for liquid fuel, the Taepodong-2 takes several days to prepare for launch while exposed on a launch pad, making it less suitable for military missions.⁸ Also, as of June 2016, North Korea has yet to test an ICBM-class re-entry vehicle.

Nonetheless, it is still possible that North Korea could use the Taepodong-2 as an ICBM and launch an untested re-entry vehicle in critical circumstances.⁹ Given the system’s failures to place satellites accurately in orbit, the potential accuracy of the Taepodong-2 is thought to be poor. With the introduction of the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 missiles, it is unlikely that North Korea would begin serial production of the Taepodong-2 as a nuclear delivery system.¹⁰