North Korea’s probable inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch on Tuesday “greatly exceeded” an altitude of 2,500km, Japan’s defense ministry said.

While no further detail about the apogee of the launch was provided, when combined with a flying time of 37 minutes, the altitude is consistent with a successful, lofted ICBM test.

The lofted nature of the missile launch, which flew around 930km according to South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff, enables North Korea to test a long-range missile without impacting the airspace of neighboring Japan.

Analysts on Tuesday said the data suggested North Korea would now be capable of reaching