US nuclear test flight 48 hours after Trump’s victory | India News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Perhaps unknown to many, just 48 hours after Donald Trump was formally declared the winner of the presidential election, the US conducted a flight test on November 8 in connection with its nuclear weapons program.
Los Alamos National Laboratory – one of the main centers for US nuclear weapons development – ​​launched a payload code called Cyclone-1 to evaluate how new components and technologies behave when released by a missile and in a space environment.
The weapons-related payload was flown by Denver-based UP Aerospace SpaceLoft-20 rocketand the launch took place from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
“The laboratory’s primary mission is to ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile,” Stephen Judd, Los Alamos mission manager, told Los Alamos Daily Mail. “Doing this successfully will require flight testing to determine how things perform in environments similar to those during a rocket launch,” Judd added.
Significantly, the crucial test comes at a time when the US is upgrading and designing new nuclear warheads.
According to Judd, flight testing allows data to be collected on how systems behave in different environments, such as different accelerations, pressures, speeds and temperatures. When the rocket reached its apogee – the point farthest from Earth – the research payload was released and tracked by laboratory scientists during its descent back to Earth.
During this flight, an onboard telemetry system transmitted in-flight information about the payload’s performance and functionality. The Los Alamos lab is preparing for four more launches between this year’s end and mid-September 2025.