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N.Korea Tests New Rocket Engine
North Korea conducted a successful ground test of a new rocket engine on Tuesday as leader Kim Jong-un looked on, North Korean media claimed.In the test of a rocket engine with 80 tons of thrust, "thrust and other technological indexes of the engine accurately reached the estimated values and its operational system remained stable during 200 seconds of working time," the official KCNA news agency said. That would mean the engine can endure an 80-ton weight for 200 seconds. If that is true and the North makes a first-stage rocket of four such engines with a combined thrust of 320 tons, then it could build an intercontinental ballistic missile with a 1-1.5 ton warhead that would be capable of hitting any target on the U.S. mainland. The thrust is about about three times as strong as the 108-ton engine of a space rocket launched in February. Kim said the North needs to "become a possessor of geostationary satellites in the next several years," according to the state media. Posted by: Steve White 2016-09-24 |
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