North Korea Declares Rocket Launch a Success

By Hyung Jin Kim 12 December 2012


Pyongyang’s state media quickly claimed that the country had successfully put a peaceful satellite into orbit with its long-range Unha-3 rocket—the North’s stated goal of the launch. But South Korea and Japan said they couldn’t immediately confirm that. The launch was something of a surprise, as North Korea had indicated technical problems with the rocket and recently extended its launch window to Dec. 29.

A rocket expert said North Korea’s rocket appeared to have improved on an April launch, which broke apart shortly after liftoff, but that it might be a day before US officials could determine whether a North Korean satellite was circling the Earth.



William Lewis, a spokesman for the US North American Aerospace Defense Command, which tracks such launches, had no immediate information about the reported launch.



Success would be defined as “something that completes at least one orbit of the earth,” he said. But “clearly this is much more successful than their last attempt. It’s at least as good as they’ve ever done. They’ve proved the basic design of it.”