2012, Dec. 14 -- South Korea's Navy has retrieved debris of North Korea's
Unha-3 rocket. The 3.2-ton upper part of the first stage (oxidizer tank),
which was inscribed with the rocket's name "Unha," is 7.6 meter long.
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 Interior view |
Welds and the original green
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Captured oxidizer-tank of Unha-3 first stage
2012,
Dec. 23 -- After examining the 3.2-ton wreckage a team of 42 South Korean
military, rocket and missile experts has concluded that the wreckage is an oxidizer
container,
which stored red fuming nitric acid*,to
fuel the rocket's first-stage propellant. The storable oxidizer that contains
highly toxic chemicals is rarely used by countries with advanced space technology,
the defense ministry said, quoting the team's findings. The tank storing about
48 (?) tons of oxidizer. The rocket itself was made of a mixture of aluminum
and magnesium, AIMg6, and was equipped with a camera tasked with monitoring
engines, a propellant motor and fuel pipelines on its side.
* Is this statement truth or just propaganda
? The tank was filled with seawater !
2012,
Dec. 23 -- South Korea's Navy has retrieved three more pieces -- a
fuel tank, its combustion chamber and an engine connection rod -- from the lower
part of the Unha-3 first stage in the Yellow Sea.
2012, Dec. 28 -- South Korea has retrieved half a dozen items of debris
from North Korea's Unha-3 rocket engines.
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Captured fuel-tank and engines of Unha-3 first stage
2013, January 02
Debris analysis: ucsusa.org
&
ucsusa.org (translation)
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 Unha separation rockets |
 Chinese sep. rockets |
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| Injector plate | |||||||
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First stage: Oxidizer tank |
First stage: Fuel tank |
Second stage |
Third stage |
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Note: The first stage was steered not by jet vanes. Instead
the analysis states the Unha first stage uses four small “auxiliary engines".
These engines are probably steering engines from an old Soviet missile,
but not from the Soviet R-27 SLBM. The surface of the combustor has ripple
marks ! These small engines have permanently a white refractory cover. The thrust of these engines is small (~4x10 kN). Thus is the propellant consumption minimal in any case, because they are used in a controlled mode.
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