The intention is to 'lunch' the hostile missile...Yes...We do want to eat the enemy for lunch...Oh...You mean 'launch' the interceptor...
But seriously...
The radar acquisition part of any ballistic missile should have the warhead detected from its apogee, which could be exoatmospheric, and begin tracking when the warhead begins its descent phase. If the simulated hostile missile failed its task, there is no reason to consider the entire test a 'failure'. This is equivalent to the enemy launching a piece of crap of a missile at you and he failed. But then again, if you cannot simulate a potential hostile missile, then there is no reason for you to consider your system employable and deployable. So did this simulated 'hostile' missile reached its assigned altitude? Even if it did not, if the defense radar has a broad enough volume scan of the sky, from horizon to horizon, then most likely the defense radar did pick up the 'hostile' missile. The interceptor launch refusal decision was an appropriate one. People are making way too much noise over this 'failure'.