Lockheed launches missile-defense payload

HONOLULU, May 1 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has launched a package of scientific instruments to measure sensors connected to the U.S. missile defense system.

The payload was sent aloft Friday on an SR19 rocket from the Pacific Missile Range in Hawaii as part of the Missile Defense Agency's Critical Measurements and Countermeasures Program and was used to gather various sensor data.

The launch was the second such MDA scientific payload sent up from Hawaii this month. Details of the data collected were not revealed.

The launches were designed to provide testing for the missile-defense system that is as realistic as possible to determine the effects the sophisticated weapons will experience if ever launched against an incoming nuclear missile.