The military's test launch of the Falcon HTV-2, a hypersonic aircraft that's capable of flying 20 times the speed of sound, ended in failure today when the glider was lost, USA Today reports.

The craft took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this morning and it was supposed to glide over the Pacific Ocean for around 30 minutes.

But the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was overseeing the experiment, said that contact with the glider was lost shortly after it was released from its rocket.

The agency released no further details, USA Today said.

The last time the government tested a Falcon was in April 2010. That craft also disappeared over the Pacific after around nine minutes and was never found.

Together, the two missions cost around $308 million, DARPA has said.