VAFB Missile Defense Program Airborne Again
Late Saturday night, Missile Defense Agency officials called the Vandenberg test successful, saying “initial indications are that all components performed as designed.”
The $171.5 million test’s purpose was to collect data about an upgraded Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle riding in the nose of the three-stage interceptor missile.
In some tests, a separate target vehicle is launched to see if the Vandenberg missile can intercept it, but this test did not involve a target.
The Missile Defense Agency implemented the upgrades to the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle after a series of failed intercept tests, including one in December 2010. The kill vehicle, a sensor-propulsion package, uses kinetic energy from a direct hit to destroy the incoming target.
Debra Christman, an MDA spokeswoman, called Saturday’s launch “fantastic.”