Wednesday's reported successful missile launch took the world by surprise when North Korea put a satelitte into space. On Monday, it was reported that the Eastern Asian country had removed it missile from its launch pad and that country announced that it had extended its launch window in order to repair technical problems.

It was thought that the launch would not be conducted anytime before December 17th, the first anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death. North Korea kept up the ruse even into Wednesday morning just prior to the launch.

The successful launch was loudly announced throughout North Korea on their state television. The female announcer breathlessly told her country that, “The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite has been successfully launched into the intended orbit path.” Pyongyang maintains that the launch’s intentions were for peaceful, scientific purposes. This is the third time that North Korea has said that it has successfully placed an object into orbit. The first two times, experts say that the intended object fell back into the ocean before achieving their goals.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command aknowledged a successful launch this time around, saying in a statement, “Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit.” NORAD said that the launch appeared to follow its intended path, traveling to the south between Korea and Japan.

North Korea was quickly condemned for its actions. Nations around the world immediately stated that the Asian country had breached United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The Unied States called the launch irresponsible and a “highly provocative act.” South Korea called the launch confrontational and said the launch was a “threat to the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the world.” Britain called the act deplorable and pointed out that North Korea “has chosen to prioritize this launch over improving the livelihood of its people.”

The South Korean government estimates that its northern neighbor has spent over $1.3 billion on its missile program this year and $600 million on the latest launch and the failed attempt in April.

China expressed regret over the launch. The launch may serve to further cool relations between North Korea and China.

Japan recorded the flight path of the missile and say that they have identified three distinctive points of debris. Debris came down in South Korea’s Yellow Sea, a second instance came down further along the coast to the south and the third came down approximately 180 miles to the north of the Philippines. The missile’s path took it over Okinowa

Although the technology required to launch an object into orbit is virtually identical to the technology to launch a long range nuclear weapon at a country such as the United States, the possiblity of that happening in the near future is almost non-existant as North Korea lacks the ability to miniturize a weapon to the size required to fit onto their launch vehicles.