Feb. 27, 2926. Credit: Rocket Lab
WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab, a provider of launch services and spacecraft, announced it won a $190 million Pentagon contract for 20 hypersonic test flights.
The award, issued by the Pentagon’s Test Resource Management Center under its Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed, or MACH-TB 2.0, covers 20 missions scheduled over the next four years. The program was created to bring in commercial launch providers to supplement government test infrastructure that has struggled to keep up with demand.
Rocket Lab will use its HASTE vehicle, a suborbital variant of its Electron rocket. Instead of placing satellites into orbit, HASTE carries payloads along controlled trajectories that recreate hypersonic flight conditions — including speeds above Mach 5 — before releasing them for testing.
The vehicle retains Electron’s two-stage, liquid-fueled design but is configured for experimental payloads such as reentry vehicles, glide bodies and air-breathing systems. Those payloads are exposed to the thermal and aerodynamic stresses associated with hypersonic flight, conditions that are difficult to replicate on the ground.
The contract follows a recent HASTE launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia carrying a hypersonic aircraft developed by Australia-based Hypersonix. Rocket Lab said it has conducted multiple HASTE flights at speeds exceeding Mach 5 for the MACH-TB program since 2023.
The Pentagon’s focus on testing reflects a persistent constraint in hypersonic development. While the Defense Department is pursuing a large number of programs, access to flight tests has remained limited by cost, range availability and scheduling. That has slowed efforts to validate designs and resolve technical issues before systems move toward production.
MACH-TB 2.0 is intended to increase the pace and flexibility of testing by incorporating commercial launch vehicles and reusable platforms. The aim is to move away from one-off, missile-based tests toward a more repeatable system that can support more frequent experimentation.
With this latest award, Rocket Lab says its launch backlog now exceeds 70 missions.
Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense…
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