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With global tension high, Defense Department postpones missile test launch set for Central Coast

A Minuteman III missile was successfully lauched from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday morning.
Airman First Class Tiarra Sibley
/
U.S. Air Force
A Minuteman III missile test launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Defense Department postponed another launch planned for this week.

Pentagon calls it a responsible approach to insuring U.S. intentions aren't misconstrued.

The government has postponed a planned intercontinental ballistic missile test from the Central Coast in what Defense Department officials are calling a responsible response to global tension.

A routine Minuteman III launched had been scheduled for Vandenberg Space Force Base for this week. The Air Force routinely test launches the unarmed missile from the base to test the readiness of equipment, and launch crews.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby called it an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued.

There’s no word on when the postponed launch might take place.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.