Rocket Lab Signs Contract to Launch Four Hypersonic Flight Missions for Leidos

By Stephen Nakrosis

Rocket Lab USA said it signed a contract to launch four new missions for Leidos.

The four Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, or Haste, missions, are scheduled across 2024 and 2025, the company said Tuesday. They follow Rocket Lab's first Haste mission for Leidos under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed, or MACH-TB, program, which took place in June.

The missions will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within The National Aeronautics and Space Agency's Wallops Flight Facility as part of the MACH-TB project. That project was awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane on behalf of the U.S. Defense Department's Test Resource Management Center, Rocket Lab said.

Brian Rogers, senior director - Global Launch Services at Rocket Lab, said, "our first Haste mission in June this year successfully demonstrated Haste's ability to accelerate the cadence of hypersonic flight testing for the nation. We're proud to now follow it up with a series of four additional missions for Leidos to support hypersonic technology innovation and technology maturation."

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 12, 2023 16:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.