In a complex test  over the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Missile Defence Agency and an industry team led by Boeing intercepted and destroyed a target in flight using the Ground-Based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system.

This was a successful test using an enhanced version of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), a device attached to the intercept booster, that flew on its own in space, hit and destroyed the target.