What the Launch of a Minuteman III Missile Looks Like

— -- U.S. officials test-launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile late Thursday night.

The successful launch was part of an operational test conducted at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, they said.

Such tests of the land-based missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads, provide valuable data for U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. Air Force, officials said. The missile landed in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

“A reliable test launch occurs when a test missile launches, completes its flight path within a designated safety corridor, the equipment functions properly, sensor data is collected, and the reentry vehicle impacts where targeted,” Air Force spokesman Joe Thomas said in a statement to ABC News. “Though the re-entry vehicle reached its intended target, the test and analysis data is not releasable to the public.”

They conduct about four test launches from silos every year.

The Air Force 30th Space Wing released footage of the long-range ballistic missile the morning.