North Korea's controversial missile failed to put a satellite into orbit

Last night's launch of Unha-3 ended after less than two minutes due to a malfunction in the third stage. The missile fell into the sea

By Ken Cramer, Universe Today website (for news)

North Korea continued its defiance of the international warnings and launched the Unha-3 missile today (Fri at 01:39 Israel time - 06:39 local time). This was later reported by the American news channels. Apparently the third stage disintegrated during the first 90 seconds or at most within 2 minutes and did not reach orbit. It is a missile that is 39 meters tall and weighs 90 tons at the time of launch.

The neighbors - South Korea and Japan, as well as the rest of the world did not treat this launch as a space operation but as a ballistic missile test, and therefore it was banned by the UN Security Council.

North Korea invited media from around the world to cover the launch of the missile a few days ago but did not announce in advance the exact date of the launch. The failure of the launch will tarnish the prestige of North Korea's new leader, 28-year-old Kim Jong Un, who was elevated to leadership with the recent death of his father Kim Jong Il.
Defense Ministry officials quoted by NBC and CNN said that the missile fell into the ocean after flying about 110 kilometers. The reason for the failure is still unknown.
North Korea's neighbors and the West strongly condemned the launch plan, saying that it was a test of a ballistic missile that could easily be converted for military purposes and hit even the West Coast of the United States.
The North Koreans said that they are merely launching an experimental weather satellite intended for peaceful purposes which they presented to the media a few days ago. The timing of the launch happens to come at a time when North Korea is celebrating the hundredth birthday of the country's founder Kim Il Sung.

The Unha-3 missile was launched from the Tongchang-ri missile base on the west coast of North Korea near the border with China in a southerly direction. The missile's trajectory was supposed to pass over the coasts of South Korea and Japan, causing these countries to worry in the event that the missile developed problems during flight and crashed over land, which could have resulted in the loss of human life.

The UN Security Council planned an emergency meeting in New York for today to discuss the situation. So far, no official announcement has been received from the North Korean government. Even the journalists who were invited to cover the launch did not report the failure.

NORAD - the US Air Defense Command and the US Northern Command discovered and tracked the launch of what it claimed was a military missile named Tapu-dong 2 at 18:39. The headquarters followed the missile that was launched over the Yellow Sea towards the south. Initial indicators showed that the first stage of the missile fell into the sea about 165 kilometers west of Seoul, South Korea. The other stages failed, and no fragments fell on land. At no point did the missile or its remains pose a threat to human life."