A centre official told the agency that the launch indicated that North Korea had the technical knowledge for firing an intercontinental missile.

The observation centre, which is run by the Russia armed forces, confirmed Pyongyang's statement that the satellite had been placed in an orbit of between 218.82 km and 6,978.20 km (135.67 and 4326.48 miles), circling the earth every 165 minutes and six seconds.

The centre speculated that the satellite had been launched for commercial purposes, adding that Russian scientists had given it a number in the catalogue of artificial objects in space.

A United States intelligence official said Friday that there was no doubt that a projectile fired over Japan by North Korea on Monday, prompting outrage in Tokyo and alarm in Washington, was a two-stage, medium-range Taepo-Dong 1 missile.

``But we are stillevaluating the data, and at this point we cannot rule out that an object was placed in orbit,'' the official said, speaking on condition he not be identified.

The US Space Command also was assessing the North Korean claim, a Pentagon spokesman said. ``At this point, we can't verify the North Korean claims and we can't disprove them,'' the spokesman said.

North Korea claimed its launch Monday had put into orbit a satellite that was transmitting revolutionary hymns in praise of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sun G and his son and political heir Kim Jong-Il.

The US intelligence official said broadcasts of the North Korean hymns had not Been picked up. Earlier Itar-Tass quoted the head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Milov, as saying that the launch of a satellite implied "a very high level of rocket technology ."

``To achieve an orbit with such parameters, it requires a very powerful engine, with power at least equal to that of an intercontinental rocket,'' Milov said, adding: ``Therein lies thesurprise.''

Milov said the North Koreans had never sought technical aid from Russia for their space programme.

The stunning claim that Pyongyang had not only achieved its first launch of a two-stage rocket but also put a satellite in orbit initially was greeted with scepticism.

David Wright, a physicist studying North Korea at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said ``there's no indication that they have anything approaching the ability to launch a satellite.'' The reports came as senior North Korean diplomats prepared to resume talks with United States counterparts in New York on a broad range of issues, including a possible easing of US sanctions.