North Korea Announces That It Has Successfully Put a Satellite Into Orbit
It looks like the Russian assistance has paid off with the North Koreans apparently successfully placing a satellite into orbit:
North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit and will launch several more satellites “in a short span of time” to step up its surveillance capability on South Korea.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the North launched a reconnaissance satellite called Malligyong-1 on a Chollima-1 rocket from a launch site in Tongchang-ri on the country’s west coast at 10:42 p.m. Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the launch at the site and congratulated officials, scientists and technicians associated with the launch preparations, according to KCNA.
“The carrier rocket ‘Chollima-1’ flew normally along the preset flight track and accurately put the reconnaissance satellite ‘Malligyong-1’ on its orbit at 22:54:13, 705s after the launch,” KCNA said in an English-language report.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but according to the Joong Ang Ilbo the rocket did fly on the typical southern trajectory that North Korea has used in the past for rocket launches. A J-Alert was issued in Japan’s Okinawan islands, but was lifted after the rocket passed over the islands.
