The timing of a routine launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile scheduled tonight from north Vandenberg Space Force Base is unrelated to Election Day, an Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs representative said Tuesday morning.
“These launches are scheduled years in advance on a quarterly basis, and there is often one in early November. The election had nothing to do with its scheduling,” the representative said.
In 2023, a similar mission conducted from north Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 1 resulted in a failed test launch, which was terminated approximately five minutes into launch over the the Pacific Ocean due to an anomaly.
Since then, Global Strike Command has successfully conducted back-to -back test launches of unarmed ICBMs from the West Coast on June 4 and 6.
A window for the launch opens tonight at 11:01 p.m. and remains open through Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Vandenberg’s Test Range.
In accordance with standard procedures, the United States has transmitted a prelaunch notification pursuant to the Hague Code of Conduct, notifying the Russian government in advance, as outlined in existing bi-lateral agreements, officials reported.
Test re-entry vehicles related to such missions travel approximately 4,200 miles southwest of California to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Data collected from the missions are used by the wider ICBM community, consisting of the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and U.S. Strategic Command.
