How "reliable" does the rocket have to be if it can get a nuclear warhead to Alaska or California?
North Korea carries out controversial rocket launch
By Jethro Mullen and Paul Armstrong, CNN
updated 11:49 AM EST, Wed December 12, 2012
Hong Kong (CNN) -- North Korea surprised and angered the international community Wednesday by launching a long-range rocket that may have put an object in orbit.
The secretive North Korean regime said the rocket had successfully blasted off from a space center on its west coast and claimed the satellite it was carrying had entered its intended orbit. The launch followed a botched attempt in April and came just days after Pyongyang suggested it could be delayed.
Initial indications suggest the rocket "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace agency, said in a statement.
Read more:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/11/world/asia/north-korea-rocket-launch/