Rocket Lab’s secret launch is a hypersonic test for the US military

Science: Rocket Lab’s pioneering suborbital launch performed hypersonic tests for the U.S. military last month, the company has revealed. The mission, which launched Nov. 24 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, used HASTE, a suborbital version of Rocket Lab’s workhorse Electron launcher.

Less than 22 hours later, the Electron lofted five “Internet of Things” satellites for French company Kinesis into orbit, capping an unprecedented spaceflight doubleheader for Rocket Lab. “Mission successful. 2 launches from 2 pads in 2 different hemispheres in less than 24 hours,” Rocket Lab said via X shortly after the Electron’s launch.

For a while, Rocket Lab remained quiet about the Nov. 24 mission, which was the second ever for the HASTE vehicle. But the California-based company broke its silence on Monday (Dec. 9), announcing that the sub-orbital mission successfully tested “hypersonic technology for the Department of Defense.” “This mission provided hypersonic test launch capabilities under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) project, which aims to enhance hypersonic flight testing for the United States in support of technology maturation,” Rocket Lab officials said in a statement Monday.