Four seconds after its launch from a test range in Alaska early Monday morning, a hypersonic weapon being developed by the United States military was destroyed after flight controllers discovered a problem with the aircraft, the Department of Defense has confirmed.

"Due to an anomaly, the test was terminated near the launch pad shortly after lift-off to ensure public safety. There were no injuries to any personnel. Program officials are conducting an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the flight anomaly," read an agency news release.

Shortly after 4 a.m. Eastern Time, the the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon was launched in the sky over the Kodiak Launch Complex and then exploded quickly afterward and fell back down to the flight range, said DoD spokeswoman Maureen Schumann in the Reuters story. "I don't know the exact altitude, but it was not very far ... we had to terminate."

The weapon was developed by Sandia National Laboratory and the U.S. Army as part of the military's "Conventional Prompt Global Strike" technology development program, which aims to build a system that can destroy targets anywhere on Earth within 60 minutes after receiving data and permission to launch, according to a story by Reuters.

Schumann verified the craft was one of several platforms being tested as part of the strike initiative.

In November 2011, the craft had successfully completed a test flight from Hawaii to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Described by the Army as a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, the weapon was scheduled to fly from Alaska to the Kwajalein Atoll when the problem occurred.

In addition to the prior flight from Hawaii, Schumann said, the hypersonic craft had "gone through a series of ground testing and modeling and simulation."

She said she wouldn't call Monday's aborted flight a significant setback for the global strike program.

"This was one concept that we were looking at in a range of possible CPGS concepts," she said. "The whole CPGS program is event-driven, not time- or schedule-driven, so we learn, we keep learning from a variety of ground testing and modeling and simulation and other tests done on the range of concepts under CPGS."

Schumann said officials from the program, the U.S. Army, Navy and Missile Defense Agency were conducting an extensive investigation into the accident.