( |; K6 Y6 ?1 }% \- @( a: i, y# b 3 b0 e: w6 u; C* o8 F) [ The satellite that North Korea claims it launched into orbit yesterday, amid allegations of long-range missile tests, is tumbling out of control, US officials have said. & u+ O) U! W q+ R: d
# w( R( M2 t2 t Officials told NBC news said that the device is some kind of space vehicle, but that they haven't established what it is supposed to do. 3 j8 x9 H0 y( |% l3 h9 `$ x1 e6 W 7 d) f# r7 q( h* A According to officials the object, which was launched at 7.49 p.m. ET on Wednesday, has an unstable trajectory and could crash land back to earth.6 N( I# U5 }4 w$ x( j& e [4 `
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Whilst seemingly admitting the object is a space vehicle, the US continued to condemn what they called a rocket launch, calling it a 'provocative act.'. e1 z9 D" I0 e- v) v9 @
, T% B" v6 i' Q# N" }4 d# y0 q+ b The United Nations security council have called it a 'clear violation' of UN resolutions.; I' L" s4 z6 }& \. r. z
3 h+ s6 F2 ?+ P A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he "deplores" the launch.% Z# d9 U3 P# W
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It is thought that the problems with the unidentified object, which North Korea claims is a weather satellite, could cause it to collide with other orbiting vehicles, or indeed come crashing back to back down earth. 6 p# C2 Q' @( g7 u2 ?% T ?0 e+ c3 g3 b; }. K' f0 \
Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, detected the launch of the missile at 7.49 p.m. ET on Wednesday. # {' X6 ~& V+ S# c: Z* \8 \4 w 4 I" Z* y. }6 Q; t2 p2 o, _& f Officials have claimed initially the first stage fell into the Yellow Sea and the second stage fell into the Philippine Sea. % D ?' k/ I [( Y 5 Y" G! r9 Y3 t North Korea has claimed that the launch was an attempt to place a satellite into a pole-to-pole orbit. * A" ?' H( }0 f3 v( A3 v6 P- |$ b: y6 Q/ s$ Q# K& {
The official KNCA news agency said the rocket was launched from Sohae Satellite Launch Center and that the Kwangmyongsong weather satellite went into orbit as planned. 5 O$ [3 B) @9 c# w* c# o2 n) M% Q" f
US officials, who have not yet identified what the object actually was, have claimed the launch was a thinly veiled attempt to test a three-stage ballistic missile with the ability to hit the US West Coast.3 c# E& U: X7 I# g, j: W# Y$ `
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William Hague MP, the British Foreign Secretary, was also among the international figures who described the launch – which defied a world ban on ballistic missile tests – as 'provocative'. , n9 x0 Z! t3 r% N7 d% u! { 5 t! n" j/ o- I; f1 g China, which is North Korea's only diplomatic ally, had urged the secretive country not to go ahead with the launch. 9 ~2 d# p; }& P' a! a * _5 x1 U# I, y4 ^( P8 J Today, Russia added to the international condemnation that greeted the launch: "The new rocket launch carried out by North Korea flaunts the opinion of the international community, including calls from the Russian side," it said." i! n3 i/ N* k4 T% _1 z
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In 2009 a one-ton Russian satellite with a nuclear reactor collided with a 1200-pound American orbiter over Siberia. The resultant debris was as large as a school bus and reentered the atmosphere. It crashed into the Atlantic Ocean
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