Scientists with the US Department of Defense are on track to conduct a second test launch next year of the Falcon HTV-2 experimental superweapon after the maiden test flight ended abruptly when the autopilot crashed the unmanned glider into the ocean as a safety measure.

The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle was designed to fly at the top of the atmosphere just below space, and is an important element of the Pentagon’s Conventional Prompt Global Strike program, which centers on building non-nuclear weapons that can strike conventionally anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last week released a statement revealing for the first time that the April 20 test flight ended when the superweapon’s autonomous onboard control system deliberately terminated the flight as a safety precaution