Overview
- An unarmed Minuteman III lifted off at 11:01 p.m. Pacific Time on March 3 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying two test reentry vehicles to a target area near Kwajalein Atoll.
- Air Force officials said the launch was scheduled years in advance and forms part of a long-running evaluation program with more than 300 similar tests.
- Telemetry and tracking data are being analyzed by the 576th Flight Test Squadron and the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, with results to be shared with oversight bodies including U.S. Strategic Command and the Department of Energy.
- Reporting states the flight covered roughly 4,200 miles in about 22 minutes at near 15,000 mph, and that the test article was randomly selected from F. E. Warren Air Force Base before reassembly in California.
- Airmen from the 91st Missile Wing provided maintenance support and operators from all three missile wings executed the launch, as the Minuteman III force remains operational ahead of replacement by the LGM-35A Sentinel.