Washington ? An interceptor missile failed to launch early Wednesday in what was to have been the first full flight test of the U.S. national missile defence system in nearly two years.

The Missile Defense Agency has attempted to conduct the test several times this month, but scrubbed each one for a variety of reasons, including various weather problems and a malfunction on a recovery vessel not directly related to the equipment being tested.

A target missile carrying a mock warhead was successfully launched as scheduled from Kodiak, Alaska, at 12:45 a.m. EST, in the first launch of a target missile from Kodiak in support of a full flight test of the system.

However, the agency said the ground-based interceptor ?experienced an anomaly shortly before it was to be launched? from the Ronald Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean 16 minutes after the target missile left Alaska.

An announcement said the interceptor experienced an automatic shutdown ?due to an unknown anomaly.?

The agency gave no other details and said program officials will review pre-launch data to determine the cause for the shutdown.

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