Story highlights Satellite not functional, US defense official says

North Korea celebrates rocket launch with fireworks

U.N. Security Council "strongly condemns" satellite launch, vows strict response

(CNN) The satellite North Korea fired into space on Sunday is "tumbling in orbit" and incapable of functioning in any useful way, a senior U.S. defense official told CNN.

Sunday's launch of the long-range rocket triggered a wave of international condemnation and prompted strong reaction from an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

North Korea maintained the launch was for scientific and "peaceful purposes."

South Korea has recovered about 270 pieces of debris, believed to have come from the rocket launch, from the ocean Sunday and is working to analyze the objects, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told CNN.

However unlike previous launches, North Korea appears to have affixed a self-destructing device to the rocket booster in order to prevent other parties from studying its capabilities.

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