CNN says Pentagon officials are closely observing, via satellite, a North Korean rocket which has recently been loaded onto a launch pad.

The U.S. broadcaster said Tuesday that officials at the Defense Department are said to believe the North’s claims that it plans to send an experimental satellite into orbit some time between April fourth and eighth.

CNN said, however, that the U.S. government does not seem to feel the need to attempt to intercept.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the North is thought to be incapable of reaching Alaska or the Pacific coast of the U.S. with a missile.