--- title: "The US Military Is Planning to Secretly Launch Something From Cape Canaveral" description: "It appears that the US military is about to launch something big from the Space Force base in Cape Canaveral." date: "2023-09-06" modified: "2023-09-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/military-secret-launch-cape-canaveral" categories: - "Future Society" - "Military" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "army" - "hypersonic missiles" - "military" - "the digest" --- # The US Military Is Planning to Secretly Launch Something From Cape Canaveral ![It appears that the US military is about to launch something big from the Space Force base in Cape Canaveral.]() *\Image: US Army\* ## Early Warning System It appears that the US military is about to launch something from the Space Force base in Cape Canaveral — and that something may have huge implications for the next-gen arms race. As [*Ars Technica* reports](), a series of mysterious navigational warnings out of the famous Florida base suggests that the military might be slated to test launch a long-range hypersonic missile across the Atlantic. If so, the test would signal that the military has finalized its first ground-based hypersonic missile, known as the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon or LRHW. These weapon systems, which can be [blasted more than 1,700 miles](), are more easily navigable and better at hiding from radar — and the Pentagon's geopolitical rivals in [Russia]() and [China]() have excelled at creating and testing them. Air and sea navigational warnings sent to mariners and pilots alike, as *Ars* and space expert [Marco Langbroek pointed out](), apparently look very much like a scheduled long-range hypersonic missile test the Army and Navy jointly planned for March of this year, which was [scrubbed due to an apparent battery issue](). What's more, the flight path doesn't match anything planned by NASA, SpaceX, or the United Launch Alliance. That leaves only the military, *Ars* reasons, as the source of the warnings — and it's staying mum on its plans. "We have nothing to announce at this time," a Defense Department spokesperson told the website. "Test dates and event details are not announced in advance." ## Military Moves That last bit may not be exactly true, however. As the report notes, the [Army put out a press release]() a few weeks after the scrubbed test launch outlining "a full rehearsal of expeditionary hypersonic launch capabilities" that featured photos of the giant road battery for the missile. In October 2021, Army secretary Christine Wormuth predicted that the fall of 2023 would be the "[year of long-range precision fires]()" — and if *Ars* and its experts are right, that prediction may have been exactly spot-on. To put it plainly, testing out the LHRW would be a major advent in the US military's high-tech arms race with Russia and China, due not only to those countries absolutely [kicking the Americans' butts]() in the area, but also because these missiles are extremely powerful. "Hypersonic weapons, capable of flying at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), are highly maneuverable and operate at varying altitudes," the Army said in some [specs released to Congress](). "This provides the warfighter with an ability to strike targets hundreds and even thousands of miles away, in a matter of minutes, to defeat a wide range of high-value targets." This LRHW is, clearly, a BFD — and it looks very much like the military is slated to test launch it any day now. **More on weapons of the future:** [*US Army Brags About Plans to Mount Rifle on Robot Dog*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()