Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian Navy, said the launch from the submerged Dmitry Donskoi had been unsuccessful.
"A special commission will conduct a detailed investigation into the cause of the incident to eliminate it during further stages of the test program after the vessel returns to base," he said.
A source in the Northern Fleet also said the missile had failed to reach its target. "A failure in the testing program of the Bulava missile complex occurred during the second stage of the test," he said.
He said such situations are possible during tests of the newest missile systems. All errors and malfunctions will be corrected after the cause of the unsuccessful test determined, he added.
The R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) ballistic missile was developed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology.
The first in-flight test launch was conducted on September 27, 2005, from the Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine.
On December 21, 2005 another Bulava was launched from the Dmitry Donskoi in the White Sea before traveling thousands of miles to hit a dummy target on the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was the first time a Bulava had been launched from a submerged position.
Russia's Borey-class nuclear submarines could be equipped with Bulava missiles as early as in 2008, the missile's chief designer said in April.
