North Korea's indigenous developmented solid-fuel rocket motor "PS180"

Norbert Brügge, Germany
 

2022, December 15 -- North Korea has released photos showing a solid-fuel rocket motor test, which appears to have taken place in a timely manner at a new test stand.

    



Analyst's assumptions that this is a motor for the Pukgugsong-5 (PS-5) are not wrong. However, it conflicts with their statement of a 2.10 or 2.20  m diameter motor of the PS-5, because the motor tested has only a maximum diameter of 1.80 m. Such diameter corresponds to my measurements of 1.80 m for the PS-5 (and PS-4 as well as PS-6), which I place in the North Korean new category of "silo-based missiles".
The presented motor has a seemingly length of about 6 m and is equipped with corrective engines on the side, of which a sample can be seen. These are probably thrusters that are used short time after launch to adjust the rocket. The mentioned enormous thrust of the motor of 140 t can only refer to the maximum.

We can also assume that the PS180 is a composite- casing motor.