DARPA's Hypersonic Glider launched and failed??

It seems the US has been very busy with their race to militarize space.

I covered the X-37B yesterday. But that new space plane was actually the second test vehicle flown that day.
It seems prior to the X-37B going skyward, DARPA's hypersonic glider called the HTV-2 was the first into the air.




The hypersonic vehicle is designed to glide through the Earth's atmosphere at speeds 20 times greater than the speed of sound.

A future hypersonic platform could theoretically deliver precision strikes to targets around the world with "little or no advanced warning," as DARPA puts it

For more info check here


What is interesting, and I am not entirely sure it is accurate, is the claim that the Hypersonic test was a failure!

" A DARPA statement released last Friday indicates that all was not perfect with the hypersonic craft.

"Approximately nine minutes into the mission, telemetry assets experienced a loss of signal from the HTV-2. An engineering team is reviewing available data to understand this event," The Fox News quoted the statement, as saying.

The statement does not specify whether the Falcon completed any of the test maneuvers before controllers lost communications with the craft."

So, this glider was launched Thursday April 22/10, it is being claimed DARPA released a statement last Friday, but the news doesn't report on in, until 5 days later? Such a monumental test flight? Maybe it failed, maybe it didn't.

I think one would have to take into consideration that the maneuver and performance capabilities of this hypersonic craft would be best kept secret?

The Falcon was believed to be a part of the Pentagon's effort to develop the capability to strike anywhere in the world with a conventional warhead in less than an hour - known as Conventional Prompt Global Strike.

The capability to strike anywhere in the world, in less then an hour.....
Hm, would it be better to have this capability left as an unknown?