North Korea's rocket launch is evidence of a new ballistic missile capability that sharply raises the stakes over Pyongyang's nuclear programme and poses a direct threat to the United States, analysts say.
Although the isolated state faces a stiff technical challenge in shaping, fitting and accurately delivering a long-distance nuclear payload, Wednesday's launch marks a major upgrade of its potential strategic military ability.
"This launch certainly bolsters their credibility when they say that they have missiles that can strike the United States," said James Schoff, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"It's harder to wave that off after a successful test like this," said Schoff, a former Pentagon official.
A North Korean claim in October that it already possessed rockets capable of striking the US mainland had been widely dismissed as rhetorical bluster at the time.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily