According to the South Korean government , North Korea launched the rocket around 11:30 a.m. ( 0230GMT ) Sunday 5 April 2009 from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea . According to the North Korean government , an Unha-2 rocket carrying the satellite was launched on Sunday 5 April 2009 at 11:20 local time ( 02:20 UTC ) from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground at Musudan-ri in northeastern North Korea . However , officials in South Korea and the United States reported that the rocket and any payload had fallen into the Pacific Ocean .