VANDENBERG-The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle Two was launched aboard a Minotaur IV rocket early this morning. It raced upwards on a plume of fire to the upper reaches of the atmosphere before it separated from the rocket, nosed down and shortly thereafter communication with the hypersonic vehicle was lost.

The carbon composite Hypersonic glider, is designed withstand the 3,200+degrees Fahrenheit temperature it encounters in flight and to travel at 13,000 miles an hour, or Mach 20. If working properly, it could make the trip to New York from Los Angeles in 12 minutes flat. It flew for approximately 9 minutes and reached its target speed before communications failed. Intentions were for the vehicle to glide 4000 miles westward at 3.6 miles per second and then autonomously ditch itself into the ocean near the Kwajalein Atoll, all the while transmitting telemetry data. But, unfortunately, 20 minutes after launch, Vandenberg lost contact with the glider.

This was the second of two planned flights of a Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2. Built for super fast global strike capability, this attempt failed in a similar manner to the first attempt on April 22nd of 2010.

Playing down the apparent failure, Defense analyst John Pike of Globalsecurity.org said of the mission, “At this early stage of the game, if they did not experience failures, it’s because they’re not trying very hard.”

These tests are the only way to determine if the craft can fly at these high speeds, as wind tunnels and computers can only test the vehicle up to 11,400 miles per hour.