26.04.2025
- An unusual temporary flight restriction has been issued by the FAA for "space operations" on April 25th from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- No commercial launch providers have announced launches for this timeframe, leading to speculation of a secretive military operation.
- Similar flight restrictions preceded the unannounced Dark Eagle hypersonic missile test in December.
Is the Department of Defense planning another secretive hypersonic missile launch in the next few days from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station?
No public announcements have occurred, and perhaps a different mission is scheduled. But the Federal Aviation Administration has issued an unusual temporary flight restriction for unspecified "space operations" from 6:50 a.m. to 10:32 a.m. Friday, April 25.
This notification prohibits pilots from flying aircraft during those hours across a broad swath of Brevard County's barrier island and the Cape. The no-fly zone extends eastward dozens of miles across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Space Coast's launch providers such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin have not announced any April 25 rocket liftoffs.
The U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, launches a hypersonic missile Dec. 12, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Similar mysterious launch advisories were issued before the U.S. Army and Navy conducted an unannounced, successful hypersonic missile test in mid-December from Launch Complex 46 at the Space Force installation.
The event marked the first live-fire event for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon system — also known as Dark Eagle — that used a truck-based mobile transporter erector launcher.
"Hypersonic systems — capable of flying at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) — provide a combination of speed, range, maneuverability, and altitude that enables highly survivable and rapid defeat of time-critical and heavily-defended targets," a DoD press release said after the Dec. 12 missile test.
In tandem with the FAA flight restriction, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has issued an uncommon "hazardous operations" navigational advisory for rocket launching between 7 a.m. April 25 and 10:38 a.m. Sunday, April 27, from Cape Canaveral.
Military officials previously scrubbed Dark Eagle test launch attempts from the Cape in March 2023 and September 2023. December's successful test was conducted by the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office in collaboration with Navy Strategic Systems Programs.
Quelle: Florida Today