Rocket Lab Launches Hypersonic Test for the US Military

On the 24th of November from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (also known as MARS) on Wallops Island, Rocket Lab launched its suborbital variant of its flagship rocket, Electron, for the second time ever, the first time was in June 2023 on a mission called ‘HASTE A la Vista’ . This variant is called the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, or by its slightly catchier name, HASTE. It carries the same 3D printed, carbon composite Rutherford engines as Electron and a larger payload capacity (up to 700kg).

The launch of HASTE was fairly secret, with Rocket Labs not announcing it prior to launch and then launching 5 Internet of Things (IoT) Kinéis satellites on a mission called ‘Ice AIS Baby’, that's pushed the total of satellites deployed by the 18 meter tall rocket to over 200, only 22 hours after the HASTE launch, posting on X shortly after, “Mission success. 2 launches in less than 24 hours from 2 pads in 2 different hemispheres," shortly after the electron launch. Eventually on Monday (Dec. 9), Rocket Labs broke their silence and announced that the suborbital mission had successfully tested, ”hypersonic technology for the Department of Defense."

In an official statement, the California-based company said, "This mission provided hypersonic test launch capabilities under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) project, which aims to increase hypersonic flight testing for the United States in support of technology maturation," They also added that, "Rocket Lab’s test platform showcased a new suite of cutting-edge technologies optimized for hypersonic technology tests with vastly increased payloads," and that, "Rocket Lab also designed, manufactured, assembled and integrated the experimental hypersonic instrumentation which was launched on this mission, but on a highly accelerated timeline."