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An American missile expert with 35 years of experience in Soviet space technology said the Taepodong 2 missile being prepared for launch in North Korea might be a "Taepodong 2C," an improved version of the Taepodong 2 with a range of 10,000 to 12,000 km, and that it might contain a newly-updated communications satellite similar to the one North Korea claims to have launched in 1998.

Several years ago, when North Korea showed a model of its original satellite at its science museum in Pyongyang, it also displayed a communications satellite mock-up that was said to be several years from launching, said Charles Vick of the research group Global Security in a paper posted Monday on the group’s web site. Mr. Vick suggested the launch may be to put this prototype satellite into orbit.

Mr. Vick also said also that the Taepodong 2 currently on the launch pad at Musudan-ri is a "Taepodong 2C," a product of new technology based on the rocket propellant used in the Rodong (Nodong)-B missile and developed with technical support from Iran.

Mr. Vick said the Taepodong 2C has the ability to carry a 650-kg nuclear warhead between 10,000 and 12,000 km.

On June 12, the Financial Times reported that while it appears the missile could be a Taepodong 2 with a range of between 3,500 to 6,000 km, it is possible it is a Taepodong 3 with a range of 12,000 km, a figure which agrees with Mr. Vick’s estimation of the rocket’s range.

In a separate article for Global Security, Mr. Vick analyzed the history of the development of the Taepodong 2, and claimed a missile launched in Iran on January 17 was a Rodong B, an adaptation of Pyongyang’s Rodong, demonstrating that collaboration exists between North Korea and Iran.

Pyongyang successfully test fired three solid fuel short-range missiles on March 9 of this year, which some interpret to have been preliminary tests of the three-stage boosters to be used in the Taepodong 2. On March 13, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command William Fallon and United States Forces Korea Commander General Burwell Bell, speaking before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the three solid fuel short-range missiles possessed vastly improved accuracy and maneuverability. This demonstrates that, having performed test firings in January and again in March, North Korea has been making painstaking preparations for the test firing of the Taepodong 2C.

An official with the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis questioned Mr. Vick’s assessment. "Theoretically, you could increase rocket range by reducing the size of the missile’s head and increasing the volume of the projectile," he said. "But one doubts whether North Korea has the technology to do that." In a report to the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimated the Taepodong 2’s range to be 6,000 km.

Mr. Vick’s intelligence assessments are considered reliable by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.