North Korea has vowed to launch satellites into space “one after another,” a week after it defied international protests by launching a long-range rocket that failed just after taking off.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday quoted space agency officials as saying Pyongyang will continue conducting the launches, which it says are aimed at placing weather satellites into orbit.

The defiant statement said scientists have already discovered what caused the failure of last week's launch, though no details were given. It also did not give a time frame for the next rocket launch.

The statement comes days after the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned the launch and threatened further sanctions, saying the move violated resolutions barring North Korean use of ballistic missile technology.

Earlier this week, North Korea said it was ready to retaliate in the face of the widespread condemnation, raising fears that it would go ahead with a third nuclear missile test.

This week in New York, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the world body stands ready to take further action if North Korea persists in its actions.

Earlier this month, South Korean officials released satellite intelligence photos showing new activity at the site of North Korea's two previous underground nuclear tests.