THAAD relaunch rescheduled

A test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system at the Pacific Missile Range Facility has been rescheduled for tonight, marking the third such test on Kaua‘i and the eighth overall.

If successful, the event will wrap up the first phase of THAAD testing involving unitary targets.

The original launch, set for Wednesday night, was called off because of equipment difficulties.

“We had some equipment issues that kept pushing our launch time back to the point where we were about to reach the limit of our launch window,” Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers said via e-mail.

As one of many layers of defense against attacks, THAAD specializes in land-based interception of ballistic missiles during the terminal phase of flight. The THAAD program was relocated to Kaua‘i from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico this year.