spacetoday.net: North Korea unveils rocket for satellite launch attempt

Posted: Mon, Apr 9, 2012, 7:40 AM ET (1140 GMT)
Unha-3 rocket on North Korean pad (Xinhua)

North Korean officials, in a rare display of openness, showed off to foreign visitors Sunday a rocket they plan to launch later this week. Foreign journalists were given access to the launch site at Tongchang-ri in northwestern North Korea, where a Unha-3 rocket is being prepared for launch. North Korean officials say they plan to launch the rocket between April 12 and 16, placing a small satellite into a near-polar 500-kilometer orbit on a remote sensing mission. The governments of several nations, including the United States, Japan, and South Korea, object to the launch, which they claim is primarily a test of long-range missile technology. North Korea claimed to have launched satellites twice previously, in 1998 and 2009, but both launches appeared to have failed to place objects in orbit.