Updated at 3:02 p.m., Thursday, June 21, 2007
Missile test off Kauai delayed by vessel in area
Advertiser Staff
A ballistic missile defense test off the Pacific Missile Range Facility has been put off until tomorrow, apparently because there was a vessel in the range safety area."While conducting range safety surveillance, PMRF officials determined the range was not clear. For safety reasons, the test was postponed," the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.
The scheduled test calls for a target missile to be fired from the missile range on the Mana plain of west Kaua'i. Three ships at sea and two satellites are to track the missile, and the destroyer USS Decatur is scheduled to launch an interceptor, a Standard Missile-3.
In addition to testing the ability of the interceptor to crash into the target in flight, the schedule includes data collection aboard other vessels, and data interchange between the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense system and another U.S. ballistic missile defense program, the Army's THAAD, which stands for Theater High Altitude Area Defense.
