Rocket Problems Delay US Missile Defense Test

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Rocket Problems Delay US Missile Defense Test

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it will postpone a missile defense test scheduled forSaturday because of problems with the interceptor rocket.

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The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it will postpone a missile defense test scheduled forSaturday because of problems with the interceptor rocket.

Problems were discovered with seals on the nozzles that help steer two stages of the three-stage rocket, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

The booster rocket with the nozzle problem is a modified Minuteman II missile. The 30-year-old missiles will only be used for two more tests before they are replaced by more modern rockets,the statement said.

The test would be Pentagon's seventh ground-based missile defense test as part of an effort to develop and deploy a missile defense system.

According to the test plan, the interceptor will try to destroya mock warhead released in space also by a modified Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile fired from Vandenberg Air ForceBase in California.

In addition to the mock warhead, the target missile will carry decoys to test the interceptor's ability to distinguish between the two.

As in the previous test, the prototype interceptor will be launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands to destroy the mock warhead 140 miles (about 225 kilometers) above the ocean.

The Pentagon has conducted six such tests so far, four of them were successful. The most recent test was conducted on March 15.

Washington has been aggressively developing a missile defense system since George W. Bush came to power last year. To clear the way for the development, Bush withdrew the United States from the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty between Moscow and Washington in June this year.

Bush's missile defense plan was widely criticized by the international community. Russia, China and some other countries have expressed their concerns that the program could lead to a renewed arms race in the world. Opponents at home also argued thatthe missile defense system is too expensive and unrealistic.

Designing, testing and building a system of land- and sea-basedmissile defenses would cost between 23 billion dollars and 64 billion dollars by 2015, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this year.

In a related development, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that missile defense would be on the agenda Wednesdaywhen he and other top Pentagon officials meet with President Bush at his Texas ranch.

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