Taepodong-1

Taepodong-1 () was the external designation given to 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.

==History== upright|thumb|Rodong (or, Nodong) and Taepodong 1 and 2 thumb|right| North Korean missile launches over Japan①: Taepodong-1 ②: Unha|Unha-2 ③: Unha-3 ④: Kwangmyŏngsŏng (Unha-3) ⑤: [[Hwasong-12 ⑥: Hwasong-12]] On August 31, 1998, North Korea announced that they had used this rocket to launch their first satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 from a pad on the Musudan-ri peninsula. However, the satellite failed to achieve orbit; outside observers conjecture that the additional third stage either failed to fire or malfunctioned. This is contrary to official statements of the North Korean state media, which stated that the satellite achieved orbit about 5 minutes after launch. On this single launch, the main two-stage booster flew for 1,646 km without any significant problems.