Fresh outrage after North Korea space rocket launch

North Korea said Sunday it had successfully put a satellite into orbit, with a rocket launch widely condemned as another defiant step towards a missile capable of striking the US mainland.

The launch, which violated multiple UN resolutions, amounted to the North doubling down against an international community already struggling to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test barely a month ago.

There was no immediate external confirmation that the final stage of the satellite-bearing rocket had successfully achieved orbit, although the US Strategic Command said it had tracked “the missile launch into space”.