--- title: "Sohae Satellite Launching Station: North Korea Strategic Site Dossier | Save North Korea" description: "Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Missile & space): Main space launch site, also used for rocket engine tests. Launched the Malligyong-1 spy satellite in 2023." url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/places/sohae" language: en translations: en: https://savenorthkorea.org/places/sohae ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/places/sohae ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/places/sohae zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/places/sohae --- [Key sites](https://savenorthkorea.org/places) · [Missile & space](https://savenorthkorea.org/places#missile) Missile & space # Sohae Satellite Launching Station Main space launch site, also used for rocket engine tests. Launched the Malligyong-1 spy satellite in 2023. **Operating, expanding** status ![Sohae Satellite Launching Station](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/places/sohae.jpg) [Photo via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North%5FKorean%5FUnha-3%5Frocket%5Fat%5Flaunch%5Fpad.jpg) Sohae Satellite Launching Station · 39.6600°N, 124.7050°E [Google Maps ↗](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.66,124.705,15z/data=!3m1!1e3) · Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics [ Open on the intel map](https://savenorthkorea.org/map#sites=sohae)[ Read more](https://savenorthkorea.org/missiles) ## Satellite watch Captured 11 Oct 2026 Our own images of this 7.7 km square from the European Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites: the newest clear picture, and the clearest one from each of the last 24 months. One pixel is 10 m, enough to see roads, fields, ponds and large buildings, not people. ![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Sohae Satellite Launching Station, 7.7 km across, captured 11 Oct 2026](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/sohae/2026-10-11.jpg) ![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Sohae Satellite Launching Station, 7.7 km across, captured 16 Oct 2025](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/sohae/2025-10-16.jpg) 16 Oct 2025 11 Oct 2026 **Before: 16 Oct 2025** Cloud in this square: 0% Scene [S2B\_51SXD\_20251016\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F51SXD%5F20251016%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=39.66000&lng=124.70500&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2025-10-16T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2025-10-16T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) **After: 11 Oct 2026** Cloud in this square: 0% Scene [S2B\_51SXD\_20261011\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F51SXD%5F20261011%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=39.66000&lng=124.70500&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2026-10-11T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2026-10-11T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) Pick a month to compare with the latest image We pick each image by measuring cloud inside this square from the satellite’s own scene classification. Months with no clear image are left out. We do not mark or interpret anything in the pictures. The ring marks the point on our map. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024-2026 · [Copernicus Data Space](https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/) · [Sentinel-2 L2A COGs (AWS)](https://registry.opendata.aws/sentinel-2-l2a-cogs/) ## Source - [**Wikipedia** en.wikipedia.org ↗ ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohae%5FSatellite%5FLaunching%5FStation) ## More missile & space sites - [ © Esri, Maxar Missile & space **Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground** Mostly idle East coast launch site used for early long-range rocket tests (1998, 2006, 2009). ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/tonghae) - [ © Esri, Maxar Missile & space **Sinpo shipyard** Operating Submarine base and shipyard where submarine-launched ballistic missiles (Pukguksong) are built and tested. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/sinpo) - [ © Esri, Maxar Missile & space **Kusong testing ground** Operating Inland missile test area used for Hwasong-12 and other launches. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/kusong) - [ © Esri, Maxar Missile & space **Sunan (Pyongyang airport)** Operating Pyongyang’s international airport doubles as an ICBM launch pad. Several Hwasong-15 and -17 shots were fired from here. ](https://savenorthkorea.org/places/sunan)