New N. Korea complex for possible ICBM launch

North Korea is building a new complex at its main rocket launch site, possibly for training and launches of road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, a US think-tank said.

Satellite imagery from May 10 suggests the North is conducting a number of important construction projects at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on its western coast, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said Tuesday.

"One working hypothesis is that the North is building a new complex to conduct future training and launches for mobile missiles such as the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)", it said on its website, 38 North.

"Moreover, that hypothesis is consistent with ongoing KN-08 engine tests being conducted (at) Sohae's rocket engine test stand, where a probable KN-08 first stage is currently seen on the stand, possibly left there after early April 2014 tests or for use in the future".

Three KN-08 rocket engine test series have been identified for the first and possibly second stages dating back to mid-2013, the institute said early this month, adding the next technically logical step would be a flight test of the entire system.

North Korea successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 on a rocket -- the Unha 3 -- that Pyongyang said was designed for purely scientific missions.

The international community said the launch was a disguised ballistic missile test and the UN Security Council tightened existing sanctions as a result.

The May 10 imagery also indicates that Pyongyang's effort to upgrade the existing Sohae launch pad to handle space launch vehicles larger than the Unha-3 is continuing but work has slowed, possibly due to the greater priority placed on these new construction projects.

"As a result, North Korea will be unable to conduct SLV (space launch vehicle) tests from this site until at least mid to late summer 2014 when work should be completed", it said.

The successful 2012 satellite launch caused serious concern, but experts stressed that it lacked the re-entry technology needed to bring an ICBM down onto a target.

Full-scale models of the road-mobile KN-08 missile were given pride of place in North Korean military parades in 2012 and in July last year.

But several experts ridiculed the models, with at least one respected aerospace engineer labelling them technically preposterous and a "big hoax".

The North is developing a working ICBM as a national priority and a successful test of such a missile would take the nuclear threat posed by Pyongyang to an entirely new level.

The institute said last week that despite fears to the contrary, satellite imagery suggests North Korea is not preparing an imminent nuclear test.

Imagery dated May 9 does show high levels of activity at the Punggye-ri test site, but most of it seems to be of a mundane, routine nature that would not be consistent with an impending test, it said last week.

Peacekeeper Post Boost Propulsion System (PBPS): Making ICBMs Safe

Receipt of PBPS at WSTF Test Stand 328. 

Image courtesy NASA.

NASA Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) contracted with the United States Air Force (USAF) to make safe the Peacekeeper Post Boost Propulsion System (PBPS) stages in the next four years.

This will be done by de-tanking hypergolic rocket propellants, venting helium tanks and expending the ordnance.

In this way the stage can be destroyed by the USAF plus, reusable hardware and propellants could be harvested.

WSTF was selected by Hill Air Force Base (AFB) to make safe the PBPS stages because the facility was familiar with the stage from aging and surveillance hot-fire testing during Peacekeeper's deployment in the early 2000s.

WSTF's unique background and expertise in hypergol handling and safety, and the site's ability to hot-fire hypergol rocket systems using the propellants, made WSTF the logical choice for the safing project.

WSTF also provided the decontamination and deservicing operations for space shuttle orbital maneuvering system pods after completion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

With existing storage and handling facilities for hypergolic rocket propellants, along with the necessary environmental permits in place for hazardous test operations, the remote location and controlled access of WSTF made it highly suitable for this type of work.

PEACEKEEPER Background
In 1986, the LGM-118A Peacekeeper was the newest Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) deployed by the USAF.

At the end of the Cold War, the United States revised its strategic policy and agreed to eliminate the multiple re-entry vehicle Peacekeeper ICBMs by 2003 as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II).

The missiles were deactivated, disassembled and shipped to Hill AFB in Utah. With the removal of the Peacekeeper from service, the Air Force Program Office at Hill AFB in Utah had to find methods for the disposal of the various Peacekeeper systems, as the START II required.

This included disposal of both solid propellant and hypergolic rocket propellant systems. As part of the treaty, the USAF was required to demilitarize the Peacekeeper PBPS.

Spacesuit fitting for Alan Shepard

Spacesuit fitting for Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut; Shepard winched aboard a helicopter after splashdown of the Freedom 7 capsule, Mercury-Atlas 4, 1960 and 5 May 1961.

Credit: Bloomsbury Auctions

Ex-Soviet ICBM: SS18 'Satan' rocket launches three European micro-satellites

Ex-'Satan' rocket launches three European micro-satellites

A former Soviet SS-18 intercontinental missile lofted a trio of European micro-satellites into space on Wednesday, including a satellite to monitor the Sun's impact on climate change, France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) said.

The Russian-Ukrainian Dnepr lifted off at 1442 GMT from Yasny, southern Russia, the CNES said in a press release issued in Paris.

Its triple payload included a 150-kilo (330-pound) French satellite called Picard that will scrutinise the Sun for changes that could affect Earth's climate system.

More than 80 percent of current climate change is attributable to greenhouse gases that trap solar heat, leaving variations in solar output as the other big contributor.

Picard, named after a 17th-century French astronomer who investigated solar activity, will orbit at an altitude of 725 kilometres (453 miles), the CNES said.

It carries a telescope that will take images of the Sun in five wavelengths, and two other instruments to measure the Sun's energy output.

The other passengers aboard the Dnepr were the satellites Mango and Tango, under a Swedish Space Corporation project called Prisma.

They will test new sensors and navigation technologies designed to enable satellites to rendezvous or fly in formation in space.

The SS-18 was code-named "Satan" by NATO in the Cold War's heyday. In the 1990s, a number of the missiles were converted so that they could carry small civilian payloads into low Earth orbit.

Russia tests 'Satan' class long-range missile ICBM

Russia has successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), opting to extend the lifespan of its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.

The 112-foot missile, capable of carrying 10 warheads, was fired from the Orenburg district on Russia's frontiers with Kazakhstan. It struck its target, 4,000 miles away, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, Russian news agencies reported.

"Pre-launch operations, the launch and flight went strictly according to plan," a spokesman for Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, Col. Vadim Koval, was quoted saying by the Interfax news agency.

"The test hit the intended target area on the Kamchatka peninsula with astounding accuracy."

The 22-ton RS-20V missile is known within NATO as the "Satan" and has a range of about 10,000 miles.

"The launch was carried out as part of experimental construction work aimed at confirming the flight characteristics of the RS-20V missile and to extend its life span to 23 years," Russia's Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.

Military officials quoted by local media said the missile was not carrying a nuclear warhead and that the United States had been informed of the tests, in compliance with bilateral agreements requiring notification of the missile testing.

The RS-20V, which has been in operation for more than 21 years, is widely revered by experts as the world's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile. Known as the Voyevoda, the missile was initially intended to be used for 15 years. By some accounts, Moscow wants to continue using the missiles until 2019.

"The extension of the lifespan of the Voyevoda to 25 years will allow us to extend its services by 10 years, Russia's Strategic Missile Forces said.

Senior military officials quoted by The Times of India said Russia was developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile and would gradually decommission older versions in order to ensure nuclear safety.

Earlier this month, Russia's new nuclear-capable missile test launch failed over the White Sea, creating an eerie blue swirl in the sky that provoked hundreds of UFO sightings over Norway.

The failed test was an embarrassment for the Russians, who are bent on bolstering their deterrent force.

The Bulava missile can carry up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads and has a range of 5,000 miles. It is a sea-based version of Russia's land-based ballistic missile, the Topol-M, which the military has been using since 2006.