[Cap.Jang News] 58. North Korea launched a satellite, CNN (北朝鮮人工衛星発射)

2016 Feb. 7th 0900

 The Kwangmyongsong carrier rocket blasted off from the Sohae launch facility at 9 a.m Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday), entering orbit nine minutes and 46 seconds after liftoff, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported.

A state TV newsreader said that the launch had been personally ordered and directed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who was pictured smiling in official photographs as he oversaw the launch, and that more satellite launches were planned.

A senior U.S. defense official said the rocket headed toward space and, based on its trajectory over the Yellow Sea, "did not pose a threat to the U.S. or our allies."

At least two new objects have been detected in Earth's orbit and are being tracked, a spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command told CNN on Sunday. The objects appeared to be the satellite and the final stage of the rocket booster, said arms control expert David Wright, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program.

South Korea retrieved a piece of debris believed to be a part of the missile Sunday morning, a Defense Ministry official told CNN. The object was recovered from the ocean by a South Korean navy vessel and is being analyzed, the official said.

Japan's analysis of the launch indicated parts of the rocket fell in four locations offshore after takeoff, the Japanese Prime Minister's office said via Twitter.

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