Current Events > the challenge of rocketry is not getting up high, but delivering mass up high.

(+) Yeah! (+)

the widely publicized high-altitude tests of NK missile systems has enabled a narrative that NK can deliver a payload to US cities. it neglects the consideration that any of these tests were not for the confirmation of a payload delivery system, but for the public appearance of a payload delivery system. this is remarkable given the budget NK dedicates to public appearances in every other way.

delivering a 500kg payload is an order of magnitude more difficult than delivering a 5kg payload. because simply scaling up the length of a rocket motor does not substantially alter its in-flight performance, it becomes incredibly difficult to deliver large payloads long distances--this is why ICBMs are seen as highly advanced technology that only a few nations are capable of, whereas shorter range missiles are more possible since less acceleration of the payload is required.

the NK "ICBM" delivery system runs on the same fuel design as their intermediate-range ballistic missile. it's unsymmetric hydrazine, a fuel that almost certainly was passed along to them from the russians, and based on a russian IRBM design that is basically the same two-stage missile, except shorter.

there is a russian ICBM that runs on the same fuel; it's more than twice as wide.

pretty much every other ICBM is three-stage.

running your missile program mostly as a spectacle to attempt to scare off aggressors, rather than properly develop a defense tool, leads to events such as this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/04/north-korean-city-of-tokchon-was-hit-by-a-ballistic-missile-the-diplomat.html

In April, Pyongyang launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that failed shortly after launch and ended up hitting the city of Tokchon, roughly two hours from the capital, The Diplomat reported on Wednesday.

The missile's failure was widely reported at the time but it was not previously known that the Hwasong-12 crashed in a populated area.

From a location near North Korea's Pukchang Airfield, the missile flew approximately 39 kilometers (24 miles) to the northeast where it struck a complex of industrial or agricultural facilities in Tokchon, The Diplomat said, citing satellite imagery. That complex, located near residential and commercial buildings, likely experienced a large explosion but The Diplomat said it was impossible to determine whether there were casualties.

The prospect of nuclear war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula dominated global headlines for the last year, but many analysts believe the risk of a nuclear accident could be an even greater threat amid Pyongyang's lax safety regulations.

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i got a a massive rocket for ya right here buddy hehehe
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