North Korea prepares for rocket launch North Korea is mounting a satellite into a long-range rocket for a controversial imminent launch that defies UN Security Council resolutions, according to media visiting the country. The BBC reported that an official on Tuesday briefed visiting reporters that the Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star) satellite was being placed in the Eunha-3 (Galaxy) rocket that now stands on a launchpad in the north-west of the country. IN World Nuclear-armed Pyongyang plans to fire the satellite - which is supposed to monitor crops and weather - into orbit between April 12 and 16, blasting the rocket on a trajectory towards the Philippines. We have chosen a safe trajectory. The first stage will fall 100 miles (160 kilometres) from land and the second stage 120 miles from land," Ryu Kum-chol, deputy director in the country's committee for space technology, was quoted as saying. Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have reacted angrily to the impending launch, which they argue is a smokescreen for Pyongyang to extend the firepower of its ballistic missiles. They have promised a stern response but there is little room for the international community to extend the already heavy sanctions imposed against North Korea. International fears about the launch have intensified over recent days as US and South Korean officials have voiced concerns Pyongyang could also be preparing for a third subterranean atomic bomb test, following the pattern of a rocket launch and bomb test in 2009. This would particularly alarm the international community because Siegfried Hecker, the US scientist with the best direct knowledge of Pyongyang's atomic facilities, believes North Korea is only one test away from being able to miniaturise a warhead for deployment on a ballistic missile. Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, has spoken to his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin to co-ordinate their response to what Washington sees as "provocation." North Korea says the launch forms part of celebrations to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's first leader. Pyongyang's propagandists say they will pass through the "gateway of a mighty and prosperous nation" in 2012. Airlines have shuffled flights in preparation for the launch and Japan has readied air defence batteries, although it is not expected to be overshot by the rocket. Pyongyang's launch has already scuppered a food deal with the US, which had promised to send 240,000 tonnes of food aid on the condition North Korea suspend atomic tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment. South Korea has responded to the launch by asking the US to allow it to extend the range of its own ballistic missiles.