An unmanned hypersonic glider, capable of going 20 times the speed of sound or greater was launched early Thursday but contact was lost after the experimental craft began flying on its own, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said.

The unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) is designed as a global bomber that can reach any part of the world in an hour. It was launched successfully from Vandeburg Air Force Base, 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles, aboard a Minotaur IV rocket.

Contact was lost after the plane was separated from the rocket in the upper reaches of the atmosphere for its "glide" phase.

"Range assets have lost telemetry with HTV2," DARPA wrote in a Twitter post after the launch.

The hypersonic glider is designed to be launched from the edge of space, separate from its booster and maneuver through the atmosphere at 13,000 mph before intentionally crashing into the ocean.

DARPA used Twitter to announce the launch and the status of the flight. It tweeted about the successful launch of the Minotaur 4 rocket and the glider's separation. The agency next reported about the losing telemetry- the transmission and assessment of data with the glider.

"Downrange assets did not reacquire tracking or telemetry," the agency added. The craft has "an autonomous flight termination capability," it noted.

DARPA provided no other details about the flight or how long the glider had been separated from the rocket.

The first HTV-2 flight was launched on April 22, 2010. Scientists lost contact with the glider after nine minutes. The glider aborted its flight after detecting an anomaly and crashed into the ocean.

The glider could potentially provide the U.S. military with a bomber capable of striking targets anywhere in the world within minutes using conventional weapons.

"The ultimate goal is a capability that can reach anywhere in the world in less than an hour," DARPA said on its website.

But Loren Thompson, an analyst at Lexington Institute with links to the defense industry, said there was still much work to be done before the hypersonic bomber becomes a reality.

"The military has a long way to go before hypersonic vehicles are ready for deployment," Thompson told AFP.