It was the long-range rocket blast heard around the world.  Today North Korea launched a rocket which it says was intended to carry a weather satellite into orbit.  The attempt failed; however, it has North Korea’s neighbors, it allies, and the West on high-alert.  What could have easily been a ballistic missile test in disguise worked to instantly and exponentially increase tensions in a region perpetually on edge.

Lasting less than one minute, the rockets journey was intended to commemorate the birth of the nation’s founder Kim Il Sung.  While details are scarce at this time, we may never know North Korea’s true intentions.  The fate of today’s launch calls to mind America’s first attempt to send a satellite into orbit in 1957.  Just a month after the Soviet Union’s first successful satellite launch, the US Navy failed miserably to replicate the feat with Vanguard TV3.  The good news…the Soviet Union is no more and our Navy now focuses on its strengths.  Regardless of whether today’s attempt truly “failed” in the eyes of the North Koreans, there’s no doubt that the US, its military, and its hundreds of orbiting satellites are and will continue to remain miles above the competition.