US Navy Successfully Tests Sea-Based Hypersonic Missile Launch

The test marks the first use of a cold-gas ejection system for a hypersonic weapon that will eventually be deployed on the USS Zumwalt.

U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducts a cold-gas launch of a conventional hypersonic missile on the path to Navy fielding in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 2. U.S. Navy

The U.S. Navy announced on Friday it had achieved a significant milestone in its hypersonic weapons program with the first successful U.S. test of a sea-based launch system.

At Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on May 2, the Navy conducted the first end-to-end flight test of the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missile using a cold-gas ejection method, Navy officials said in a statement. They described the approach as being able to safely eject the missile from the launch platform before igniting its first stage—a critical feature for shipboard launches, the Navy added.