North Korea has recently finished reorganizing the National Aerospace Technology Administration. As Pyongyang gears up for technical cooperation with Russia, it has expanded relevant NATA departments.
In its 9th Session on Sept. 26-27, North Korea’s 14th Supreme People’s Assembly debated and adopted a measure to overhaul NATA, the government agency in charge of satellite and rocket R&D.
As part of the change, the agency’s Korean name (translated literally into English) was changed from “national space development bureau” to the “national general bureau for aviation and space technology.”
Then on Oct. 10, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted NATA researcher Ri Song Jin as saying that “space development including military reconnaissance satellites is an indispensable strategic option for guaranteeing the security interests and right to existence of the DPRK.”
Since this is NATA’s first public statement since it was renamed by the Supreme People’s Assembly, there has been speculation that staff reassignments and organizational changes have already been completed.
“North Korea needs external development cooperation if it’s to quickly proceed with the militarization of space, and we didn’t have any departments suitable for that. The organizational overhaul was carried out swiftly to boost cooperation with Russia in the area of space militarization,” a high-ranking source in North Korea told Daily NK on Oct. 16, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
While the “space militarization” mentioned by the source includes space reconnaissance abilities and space territory acquisition, the source said North Korea is specifically interested in cooperating with Russia on satellite technology. As a result, the expansion of the department in charge of technological cooperation was a key initiative in NATA’s reorganization.
Significantly, the source said that North Korea and Russia had agreed during a recent summit to set up a “technological cooperation council” to work on space militarization and to pursue exchanging and training technical staff in all relevant areas, including research, development and testing.
According to the source, NATA’s reorganization also involved changes in terms: the former “sections” were upgraded to “departments.” NATA presently consists of 15 departments, including the Aviation, Satellite and Launch Vehicle Research Department; the International Technology Cooperation Department; the Comprehensive Review Department; the Testing and Production Department, the Information and Technology Department; and the Comprehensive Launchpad Management Department, as well as several affiliated institutes, laboratories, design offices and intelligence centers.
NATA’s workforce currently numbers around 1,400. The North Korean authorities have announced that workers from the Munitions Industry Department, the air force and research institutes responsible for alloys and aircraft will be reassigned to NATA as part of its reorganization.
When asked about the addition of “aviation” to NATA’s new Korean name, the source said, “That means [NATA] will be in charge of R&D for all launch vehicles, including not only satellites and spacecraft but also military and civilian aircraft.”
That suggests NATA has been reorganized to serve as a hub for aviation R&D, which will include attack helicopters, satellites, drones and civilian aircraft.
On May 31, North Korea launched the Chollima-1 satellite launch vehicle carrying the Malligyong-1, its first military reconnaissance satellite, but that launch failed, along with a second launch on Aug. 24, 85 days later. North Korea has promised to carry out a third launch before the end of October.
North Korea has publicly attributed the failure of the first launch to the abnormal initiation of the second-stage engine after separation of the first stage. The failure of the second launch, North Korean state-run media said, was due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third stage of the launch.
When asked whether North Korea has discussed or cooperated with Russia on technology related to putting the satellite into orbit after the third stage of the launch, the source said: “That’s a technical issue that we’re capable of resolving on our own. But we’re still behind on the technical issue of handling communication between the observation station and the satellite after launch.”
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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