9.05.2026

Rocket Lab's Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) rocket.

Anduril plans to conduct three company-funded tests of a hypersonic vehicle launched by a Rocket Lab rocket, the launch company said May 7.

The news release adds new details to an April 6 report by Aviation Week that revealed Anduril’s internal hypersonic vehicle program.

The April 6 report detailed nine jobs available within Anduril’s Air Dominance and Strike Division that were seeking aerodynamics and structures engineers for large “hypersonic air vehicles and missile platforms.” Anduril declined to comment in April about the internal program.

But Rocket Lab said a month later that Anduril had selected the Haste rocket to launch three hypersonic tests from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia.

“Each mission will serve as a testbed to accelerate the development of hypersonic technologies, fully funded through Anduril's own internal capital,” Rocket Lab said.

“Anduril is proud to partner with Rocket Lab to advance one of the most complex problems in defense,” said Gokul Subramanian, Anduril’s senior vice president of Engineering.

The first launch is scheduled to occur no earlier than November 2026, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said on the company's May 7 earnings call.

Beck declined to provide additional program or mission specifics on the call. "The main takeaway from this partnership is that it brings together two of the defense industry's most innovative prime contractors to advance defense capabilities for the nation," he said.

Quelle: AVIATION WEEK