North Korea has launched another ballistic missile in the latest demonstration to raise tension between its neighbours and the United States — and one that officials have called one of the highest ever launched by the rogue regime.

The missile launch marks nearly two dozen missile launches since February, a period of time in which US President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un have engaged in an increasingly aggressive war of words over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Here’s what you need to know about the most recent missile launch.

The altitude

The missile reached an altitude of roughly 2,485 miles (4,000 kilometres) above Earth. To put that in perspective, the International Space Station orbits at an elevation of roughly 249 miles (400 kilometres).

The distance

The missile travelled between roughly 597 miles (960 kilometres) and 620 miles (1000 kilometres) from its launch site, in Pyongyang, a city in South Pyongan Province.

Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Show all 6 1 /6 Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Photos released by North Korea show Kim Jong-un talking to subordinates next to a device thought to be the new thermonuclear weapon. There is no way of independently verifying the pictures STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korea claims it has successfully tested an advanced hydrogen bomb which could be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A diagram on the wall behind Mr Kim shows a bomb mounted inside a cone STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) attending a photo session with participants of the fourth conference of active secretaries of primary organisations of the youth league of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters

The time

The missile was launched from that North Korean city at 3:30 local time (18:30 GMT). It travelled for about 50 minutes before coming back down to Earth, hitting waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off the coast of Honshu, Japan’s largest island.

The type

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, South Korean military officials believe the projectile to have been a Hwasong-14, a type of long-range ballistic missile.

The reaction

Mr Trump was briefed on the missile launch while it was in the air, and later seemed unfazed.

“We will take care of it,” Mr Trump told reporters in Washington. “It is a situation that we will handle.”

US Defense Secretary James Mattis described the missile in terms that made it sound unprecedented in scope — and said that the missile was designed to cross to other continents if needed.

“A little over two-and-a-half hours ago, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. It went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they’ve taken,” Mr Mattis said, alongside Mr Trump.

Japanese officials, meanwhile, said that they would “never accept North Korea’s continuous provocative behaviour”, and indicated that they thought it was a long-range missile.

The European Union said that North Korea was violating international agreements, and that the missile test was a “further unacceptable violation” of those obligations.

South Korea appeared ready for the test, and conducted its own missile test off its east coast just six minutes after North Korea’s launch. That missile demonstrated the country’s ability to attack North Korean missile launch sites if necessary, according to a statement from the South’s military.

Little advanced notice

Officials said that there were no photographs taken from aerial surveillance that would have indicated the North was planning on a missile test, further bolstering the theory that North Korea has begun putting fuel into their missiles while they are still horizontal instead of as they wait on a launchpad in launch position.

Potential to hit the US East Coast

Early calculations, according to Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington, told the New York Times that the missile was the “most robust” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched by North Korea yet, though waned that it is tough to know if it had been artificially weighted to look more menacing than it actually is.

“Early calculations suggest that it could reach the East Coast of the United States,” Mr Kimball told that paper. “However, that doesn’t take into account the payload mass, which could limit the range.”

A long history of missile tests

Before the most recent test, North Korea had launched at least 22 missiles on 15 occasions since February of this year. None of those missiles appeared to have a warhead attached, although there has been some intelligence to indicate that North Korea can create a miniaturised warhead that could fit on a missile (or was getting very close to being able to do so).

The country has been testing missiles for a long time, though. The country has launched missiles on at least 40 separate occasions dating back to 1998, according to a chronology compiled by South Korean news agency Yonhap.