Test for new US ballistic missile fails just after launch

Late at night on July 7, an unarmed test of the Air Force’s new Mk 21A intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reentry vehicle quickly ended with an explosion 11 seconds after launch at Vandenberg Space Force base in California. Nobody was injured, but the failure is a setback for the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM program that is intended to replace the ageing LGM-30 Minuteman III.

According to a press release, the Minotaur II+ rocket launch was supposed to be centred around “demonstrating preliminary design concepts and relevant payload technologies in operationally realistic environments” for the U.S. Air Force’s new Mk 21A reentry vehicle engineered to be carried on the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. The explosion caused by the failed launch occurred at 11:01 p.m. US time on July 6, The Drive reports. An additional release goes on to state that the debris was contained in the immediate vicinity of the launch pad, and the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported that the blast caused a fire to break out on the base which the Vandenberg Fire Department responded to and extinguished by about 1 a.m. US time. 

"We always have emergency response teams on standby prior to every launch," said Col. Kris Barcomb, Space Launch Delta 30 vice commander and launch decision authority for this launch. "Safety is our priority at all times."

Northrop Grumman's LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM was previously known as Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent and is being developed to take the place of Boeing's LGM-30 Minuteman-III beginning in 2029. The Mk 21A reentry vehicle is the product of a joint development effort between the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and Lockheed Martin that dates back to 2019.