Other proposals involved launching the Gemini spacecraft on a Titan IIIC, and refueling in low Earth orbit before proceeding to the Moon, and a single launch architecture using a three stage variant of the Saturn IB.
Monday's launch is part of a three stage process.
It has three stages and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.
It has opened each of the Opera's three stages, and it launched this season, after a 12-year absence, with a new production dedicated to the company's visionary founder, John Crosby.
Its predecessor, Vanguard 1, was launched on March 17 , 1958 and was designed to demonstrate the launch capabilities of a three-stage launch vehicle and to examine the environmental effects of space on satellite and instrument hardware.
The team designed a much larger missile with a greatly enlarged upper fuselage and three stages, more than doubling the launch weight.
The company says the Preview build will be released in three stages, starting with today's launch, before the public version is made available.
During a brief press conference, Mogherini announced the operation would be launched in three stages, saying the ultimate goal is "attacking smugglers and traffickers, and dismantling their business model".
The South Korean government spokesman also confirmed that the latest satellite images showed all three stages of a rocket placed on the North's launching pad.
Many of the proposals made for this involved a two launch architecture, with the Gemini spacecraft rendezvousing with an upper stage in orbit.
Most space launch vehicles have three stages.
