The US Space Force says an object launched by North Korea is circling the earth about 15 times every 24 hours. Japan's defense ministry said data show the craft is passing over areas Pyongyang wants to surveil about twice a day.

North Korea said Wednesday that it successfully launched a military satellite on Tuesday night. It says the device will officially begin spying on December 1.

Japan's defense ministry said on Friday it has confirmed that the North Korean device is orbiting Earth. It said it is still analyzing whether the object is functioning as a satellite.

The US Space Force has published an analysis of data related to the orbiting object on its website.
It says the craft is circling the Earth every 94 minutes or so, passing near the North and South poles at an altitude of between 493 and 512 kilometers.

Japan's defense ministry sources say the data suggest that it is slightly shifting its trajectory to track the Earth's rotation.