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& U& c) @( R* i" Y 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. : b9 g* @1 v- a
3 m5 z8 T- T5 D A! [- n x 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. E% @6 o E+ ]% I3 H# l# F , H4 d3 A! B" N7 k; p" H( V 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.+ w8 G. S7 ^# l! M; D: U- C. G, e
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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.') Y8 N3 a: b/ ]- x( @8 g, }2 C
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The United Nations security council have called it a 'clear violation' of UN resolutions.6 e- z! J. n* N3 f4 T
' [- e9 a8 _- g A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he "deplores" the launch.( O2 c# i8 w* B0 ]: Z5 v% s
" E( v! u" v1 V) f 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.( _2 { v2 f7 o) o+ r, i+ C
; j/ Q% n. T6 E Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, detected the launch of the missile at 7.49 p.m. ET on Wednesday. - f; b' ~9 ^ c 2 X, ~0 T6 s% J+ n! B7 v: X6 E Officials have claimed initially the first stage fell into the Yellow Sea and the second stage fell into the Philippine Sea. 0 `$ m& S2 i/ D& }9 k * R7 J. ]: v8 _% \" o North Korea has claimed that the launch was an attempt to place a satellite into a pole-to-pole orbit. - k$ W/ M1 P9 c9 @: D+ g6 \9 B; b+ u' S( [7 O& _+ i
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. ; T/ ^5 \/ q' w% Y6 V 7 `9 j" i( f4 Q8 `; W 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.4 u1 ] l+ z+ l9 L
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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'.2 u5 h4 R5 j5 S1 A+ m' ?6 @( l
" W! J1 d1 s; B China, which is North Korea's only diplomatic ally, had urged the secretive country not to go ahead with the launch.$ v" m+ o" k. p8 Z( }" ^
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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. $ a v; v& J) J) Y# ^4 i1 v# o t- K6 H t' m
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
