{"id":1898,"date":"2026-03-02T13:51:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-labs-second-hypersonic-test-launch-in-3-months-for-defense-innovation-unit\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T13:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:51:46","slug":"rocket-labs-second-hypersonic-test-launch-in-3-months-for-defense-innovation-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-labs-second-hypersonic-test-launch-in-3-months-for-defense-innovation-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab’s Second Hypersonic Test Launch in 3 Months for Defense Innovation Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rocket<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab Corporation<\/strong>, a global leader in launch services and space systems, successfully launched its latest hypersonic test mission on the HASTE rocket for the Department of War\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) supporting a critical national priority to advance hypersonic technology for the United States and its allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Not A Knife\u201d lifted off on February 27 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern (February 28, 00:00 UTC) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 within the Virginia Spaceport Authority\u2019s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia \u2013 the second successful launch of a hypersonic test mission for the DIU in three months and 7th HASTE launch overall. The mission deployed DART AE, a scramjet-powered aircraft developed by Australian aerospace engineering firm Hypersonix, into a suborbital hypersonic flight environment at several times the speed of sound.<\/p>\n

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Also Read: Rocket Lab to Launch Hypersonic Test for Defense Innovation Unit<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

With 100% mission success across all HASTE launches, Rocket Lab is helping to shape a new era of hypersonic systems testing with speed and precision, lower costs, and a modern test platform that serves the Department of War\u2019s critical technology priorities. In under two years since its inaugural launch, HASTE has rapidly established itself as a premier commercial test platform for hypersonic systems. By combining Rocket Lab\u2019s unmatched operational speed and cadence with the versatility to support diverse mission profiles within a single test platform, HASTE is driving significant advancements in hypersonic innovation and technology readiness for the nation.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s Vice President Global Launch Services, <\/strong>Brian Rogers<\/strong>, says: \u201cThis launch is another proud moment for the HASTE team and a great showcase of the important commercial platform it has become for the Department of War. Regular and reliable HASTE launches are helping to accelerate hypersonic readiness for the nation, and we take pride in providing the foundation to a new era of testing of this critical technology to protect the United States space security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hypersonix CEO, <\/strong>Matt Hill<\/strong>, says: \u201cThis mission is a major milestone for Hypersonix and our flight test program. Successfully flying DART AE in a real hypersonic environment validates years of disciplined engineering and preparation by our team. Launching aboard Rocket Lab\u2019s HASTE vehicle enabled us to execute the mission with speed and precision. This flight moves us from ground-based validation into true hypersonic operations and brings us closer to delivering reusable hypersonic capability that is operationally relevant for our partners and allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Not A Knife\u201d is Rocket Lab\u2019s third launch of the year with 100% mission success and 82nd launch overall, maintaining the global superiority of Rocket Lab\u2019s small-lift launch capabilities across government and commercial missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, successfully launched its latest hypersonic test mission on the HASTE rocket for the Department of War\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) supporting a critical national priority to advance hypersonic technology for the United States and its allies. \u201cThat\u2019s Not A Knife\u201d lifted off on February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39,41,25],"class_list":["post-1898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aerospace","tag-defense","tag-launch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}