2nd LD Writethru: DPRK leader guides ground jet test of rocket engine
Xinhua, September 20, 2016 Adjust font size:
Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un has guided a ground jet test of a new-type high-powered engine of carrier rocket for geo-stationary satellite, the official news agency KCNA reported Tuesday.
The test was aimed to confirm the feature of combustion chamber, operation accuracy of the valves and control system and structural reliability of the engine, it said.
The successful manufacturing of the engine has provided a guarantee for developing the carrier rocket for geo-stationary satellite during the country's 5-year national aerospace development program and enable to launch various kinds of satellites at a world level, the state media added.
The thrust of a single engine and other indexes were proved to have "accurately reached estimated values" and the feature values stayed stable during the working time.
Kim was satisfied with the test result and requested the officials and scientists to "round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," said the KCNA dispatch.
"The space science and technology and the space industry are an important barometer for estimating the national power," Kim was quoted as saying by the state media.
Kim instructed that an emphasis should be put on satellite development and more satellites for different uses be launched with indigenous efforts and technology, in a bid to turn the country into a possesssor of geo-stationary satellites in a couple of years to come.
On Feb. 7, the DPRK launched a newly developed earth observation satellite "Kwangmyongsong-4".
Pyongyang's rocket launch, which many countries see as a banned test of a long-range ballistic missile, came about a month after its claim on Jan. 6 that it had tested the first of a hydrogen bomb, or its fourth nuclear test. Pyongyang conducted its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9.
UN Security Council resolutions ban the DPRK from launching a rocket by use of any ballistic missile technologies. A long-range rocket and a ballistic missile have overlapping technologies.
The DPRK blasted off the three-stage Unha-3 rocket to deliver the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite into orbit in Dec. 2012. It was widely believed by the international community to be the first successful launch of a satellite into orbit by the DPRK.
On April 13, 2012, the DPRK launched Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, but later confirmed that the satellite failed to enter its intended orbit.
On April 5, 2009, the DPRK conducted a similar launch which, according to the official news agency KCNA, successfully put the Kwangmyongsong-2 communication satellite into orbit, while countries including South Korea, Russia and the United States claimed that the launch was a failure. Enditem