{"id":1970,"date":"2026-02-17T12:15:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-to-launch-hypersonic-test-for-defense-innovation-unit\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:15:48","slug":"rocket-lab-to-launch-hypersonic-test-for-defense-innovation-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-to-launch-hypersonic-test-for-defense-innovation-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab to Launch Hypersonic Test for Defense Innovation Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1771305505797_639069023103736342.webp\" width=\"712\" height=\"390\" alt=\"Rocket Lab to Launch Hypersonic Test for Defense Innovation Unit\" class=\"imageload removeImageattr\" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1771305505797_639069023103736342.webp\" style=\"opacity: 0.996057;\"><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1771305505797_639069023103736342.webp\"><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"712\"><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"390\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rocket Lab<\/strong>, a global leader in launch services and space systems, announced its next launch is a dedicated mission on its HASTE rocket for the Department of War\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).<\/p>\n<p>The mission, named Cassowary Vex, is scheduled to launch no earlier than late February from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 within the Virginia Spaceport Authority\u2019s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>The HASTE launch, dubbed \u2018That\u2019s Not A Knife,\u201d is the latest mission of the DIU and will deploy DART AE, a scramjet-powered aircraft developed by Australian aerospace engineering firm Hypersonix.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget-layout related-content-also-read-box my-3\">\n<h4 class=\"mb-0\">Also Explore: Past Satellite Launches by Rocket Lab<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p>This latest HASTE launch, the Company\u2019s fourth hypersonic test mission in under six months, reflects Rocket Lab\u2019s investment in restoring the nation\u2019s hypersonic test capabilities through its commercial speed, innovation, and execution &#8211; a critical priority for the Department of War. By lowering cost barriers and increasing the test launch tempo for the United States and its allies, HASTE gives testers unprecedented control over flight profiles and environments up to Mach 20 \u2013 a commercial capability that remains unmatched globally and expands and secures U.S. space superiority.<\/p>\n<p>Next HASTE launch details:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mission name: Cassowary Vex<\/li>\n<li>Launch name: That\u2019s Not A Knife<\/li>\n<li>Launch Window Open: late February<\/li>\n<li>Customer: Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) &amp; Hypersonix<\/li>\n<li>Launch Site: Launch Complex 2, Virginia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab, a global leader in launch services and space systems, announced its next launch is a dedicated mission on its HASTE rocket for the Department of War\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The mission, named Cassowary Vex, is scheduled to launch no earlier than late February from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 within the Virginia [&hellip;]<\/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":[41,25,20],"class_list":["post-1970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-defense","tag-launch","tag-satellite"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970"}],"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=1970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}