North Korea Launches Rocket

North Korea has launched the rocket they have been talking about, claiming that it is to transport a satellite into orbit.

North Korea says the experimental communications satellite is in space and that it is transmitting data and patriotic songs.

According to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, the three-stage rocket "accurately" put a satellite into orbit nine minutes and two seconds after launch. It provided details on an elliptical orbit that it said was taking the satellite around the Earth every 104 minutes and 12 seconds.

But, the U.S. military says whatever left the launch pad ended up at the bottom of the sea.

According to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan," "The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan."

U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials — who monitored the launch from nearby warships and high-resolution spy satellite cameras — have said they suspect the North was really testing long-range ballistic missile technology that could be used to carry a nuclear warhead to Alaska or beyond. Then Palin could be seeing more than Russia.

President Barack Obama said that North Korea violated international rules when it tested a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles, and he called on the United Nations Security Council to take appropriate action.

During a speech in Prague this morning before more than 20,000 people President Obama said the following “This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon at the Security Council but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons,”. President Obama went on to say, “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something.”




We are all watching and waiting to see the rest of the Japanese and South Korean reactions.