Thursday, November 7, 2024

US military test-launches unarmed nuclear missile on election night (video)

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The United States military test-launched another unarmed nuclear-capable missile last night (Nov. 6).

The launch took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:01 p.m. local time on Nov. 5 (2:01 EDT or 0601 GMT on Nov. 6). A team of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy personnel oversaw the launch, which sent an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg to the U.S. military’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands southeast of Japan.

Like all ICBMs, the missile flew into space before reentering Earth’s atmosphere. It’s unknown how high the Minuteman III in this particular test flew, as the U.S. military rarely publicizes such data. However, according to a U.S. Air Force fact sheet, the Minuteman III has a maximum altitude of 700 miles (1,120 kilometers), which puts it well into low Earth orbit. For comparison, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites orbit at around 342 miles (550 km).

An unarmed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launches during an operational test at 11:01 p.m. Pacific Time on Nov. 5, 2024, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. (Image credit: U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Olga Houtsma)

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