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Rocket Lab Sets Late-February HASTE Launch to Fly Hypersonix DART AE for DIU

The flight uses Rocket Lab’s HASTE service to generate real hypersonic data for DIU to advance Hypersonix’s hydrogen scramjet program.

Overview

  • The Cassowary Vex mission, dubbed “That’s Not A Knife,” will lift off from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia, with final timing to be confirmed within 24 hours of the window opening.
  • DART AE will make its first flight as a small, expendable demonstrator powered by Hypersonix’s hydrogen-fueled SPARTAN scramjet to evaluate performance at hypersonic speeds.
  • The test aims to validate propulsion, materials, sensors and guidance in flight regimes that ground facilities cannot fully replicate, according to company leaders.
  • Rocket Lab states HASTE can tailor flight profiles up to Mach 20, and this will be the company’s fourth hypersonic test mission in under six months.
  • Hypersonix recently closed a $46 million Series A to accelerate flight testing and manufacturing, underscoring an AustraliaU.S. partnership involving DIU and Rocket Lab.