Courtesy of the Missile Defense Agency

An American SM-3 missile failed during a test conducted in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, reported the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.

SM-3 interceptor missiles are planned to be one of the main elements of the US's European defense missile shield that is set to be placed partly on Polish soil from 2015-2018, reports the Polish Press Agency.

The missile, which was supposed to shoot a specific target, missed.

An “extensive investigation” will be conducted to determine the cause of the failure, the agency said.

Missile Defense Agency spokesperson Rick Lehner told Bloomberg that it was too early to say whether the test failure would delay the SM-3 program, which is in its early stages. The launch in the Pacific Ocean was the Raytheon Co. (RTN) advanced SM-3 interceptor missile's first-ever test.