Paektusan 1 | Kwangmyongsong 1

Thir first attempt to launch a North Korean satellite ended in vain, as the third stage of the Pekdosan-1 (a.k.a. Taepodong-1) launch vehicle failed shortly before it reached orbital velocity. Kwangmyŏngsŏng 1 would have beamed propaganda songs from space, if it had reached a stable orbit.

Taepodong-1 was a three-stage technology demonstrator developed by North Korea, a development step toward an intermediate-range ballistic missile. The missile was derived originally from the Scud rocket and was tested once in 1998 as a space launch vehicle. As a space launch vehicle, it was sometimes called the Paektusan 1.

The Korean Committee of Space Technology was the agency of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) responsible for the country's space program. The agency was terminated and succeeded by the National Aerospace Development Administration in 2013 after the Law on Space Development was passed in the 7th session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly.