Rocket Lab has signed its biggest launch contract to date, raking in $190 million from the U.S. Department of Defense.

The deal is for a total of 20 flights of Rocket Lab's HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) launch vehicle, a suborbital variant of the company's Electron rocket. The contract secures HASTE as the primary test vehicle for a joint program between the DoD and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division.

That program, known as the Test Resource Management Center Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed 2.0 (TRMC MACH-TB), is designed "to rapidly accelerate hypersonic flight tests and advanced aerospace technologies shaping the future of defense missions," according to a Rocket Lab press release on March 18.

HASTE has completed seven launches since its debut in June 2023. The details for many of those missions remain classified, but nearly all have been in support of entities of the U.S. government, such as the DoD, with a handful of previous MACH-TB program launches already having flown.

"Our expanded partnership with MACH-TB and the Department of War strengthens America's national security and delivers reliable, modern hypersonic capabilities with speed and affordability," Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said in the press release. (In September 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order rebranding the DoD the Department of War, but

"Department of Defense" remains the legal name.)

"This latest contract is another proud moment for the team that builds the strength and resiliency of the United States' aerospace efforts," Beck added.

The contract calls for 20 hypersonic test flights aboard HASTE over a period of four years, with the first round of launches "expected to take place within months of contract signing," the press release said.

Hypersonic vehicles travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound, and can be difficult to intercept using traditional defense technology. The U.S. military faces stiff competition in the nascent hypersonic weapons arena, which explains its interest in HASTE: the vehicle allows customers to test hypersonic tech and other gear in the space environment.

The new contract brings Rocket Lab's launch manifest to more than 70 missions currently in line for liftoff. Including a recent HASTE mission, which launched on Feb. 25 carrying the DART AE payload, Rocket Lab has averaged one launch per month so far in 2026, with three Electron launches between January and March, and another expected in the next day or so.

Rocket Lab launched a scramjet-powered hypersonic vehicle for the U.S. military to suborbital space on Friday (Feb. 27).

The company's HASTE suborbital rocket lifted off Friday at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT on Feb. 28) from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying a hypersonic demonstrator called DART AE to the final frontier.

That was a two-day delay; the mission was originally supposed to fly on Wednesday (Feb. 25), but Rocket Lab called off that attempt "due to out-of-bounds launch commit criteria."

DART AE is a 10-foot-long (3 meters) technology demonstrator built by the Australian aerospace company Hypersonix. It's "designed to validate advanced propulsion, materials, sensors and guidance systems at real hypersonic flight conditions," the company said in a statement earlier this month.

Hypersonic vehicles travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound. They also tend to be highly maneuverable, making them tougher to intercept than ballistic missiles — and therefore quite attractive to the militaries of the U.S. and other nations.

Friday's mission, which Hypersonix called "Cassowary Vex," was the first for DART AE. The demonstrator is powered by Spartan, the company's 3D-printed scramjet engine.

Scramjets inject fuel into air that's flowing through them faster than the speed of sound. That's the main difference between a scramjet and a ramjet, which deals with slower-moving air. ("Scramjet" is short for "supersonic combustion ramjet.")

Hypersonix says they use a propellant that makes their scramjet cleaner than most. "Unlike conventional scramjets powered by kerosene, SPARTAN uses hydrogen, producing zero CO2 emissions and offering a usable, low-maintenance solution for a range of high-speed defense and aerospace missions," the company said in the same statement.

DART AE flew Friday for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a branch of the U.S. military devoted to adapting commercial technology for national security uses. It was HASTE's second DIU mission, following a November 2025 launch that Rocket Lab called "Prometheus Run."

As its name suggests, HASTE is a modified, suborbital version of the 59-foot-tall (18 m) Electron, Rocket Lab's workhorse orbital launcher. ("HASTE" stands for "Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron.")

HASTE is a testbed, providing "reliable, high-cadence flight test opportunities needed to advance hypersonic and suborbital system technology development," according to Rocket Lab's website.

The suborbital rocket debuted in June 2023. Friday's mission, which Rocket Lab called "That's Not a Knife," was its seventh flight to date. DART AE required a 14.1-foot-long (4.3 m) payload fairing — the longest custom-built HASTE fairing yet, according to Rocket Lab.

"That's Not a Knife" was over quickly: HASTE's job was done about 2.5 minutes after liftoff, at which point Rocket Lab stopped showing live views from the rocket (at the customer's request). "Cassowary Vex" continued for a spell, however, with DART AE seeking to notch some unspecified milestones.

Electron, meanwhile, now has 75 launches under its belt.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:25 p.m. ET on Friday with news of launch success.

Rocket Lab launched its hypersonic test vehicle for the sixth time ever this week.

The HASTE suborbital rocket lifted off Tuesday (Nov. 18) at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Virginia, on a mission for the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

The launch, which Rocket Lab named "Prometheus Run," was a success, "advancing national interests in safeguarding the homeland through the testing of advanced technologies for missile defense," Rocket Lab wrote in a description of the flight.

HASTE is a modified suborbital version of Rocket Lab's 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron launcher, which gives small satellites dedicated rides to orbit. That lineage is in the newer vehicle's name, which is short for "Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron."

HASTE debuted in June 2023 and has now flown a total of six times. The rocket serves as a testbed, providing "reliable, high-cadence flight test opportunities needed to advance hypersonic and suborbital system technology development," according to Rocket Lab's website.

We don't know much about the technologies that got tested on "Prometheus Run," which isn't terribly surprising given that the U.S. military booked the flight.

"Led by MDA, the mission deployed a government-provided primary payload developed by the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and multiple secondary payloads by federal and industry partners, which tested key technologies for missile defense applications," Rocket Lab's postflight statement reads.

"Prometheus Run" launched within 14 months of its booking, the company added — a pretty quick turnaround for a government-sponsored test flight.

"Accessing the commercial and non-traditional ecosystem is a key enabler to accelerating progress in the hypersonics community of interest, particularly for closing mission timelines and driving towards mass and affordability," Lt. Col. Nicholas Estep, director of DIU’s Emerging Technology Portfolio, said in the same statement. "Working with MDA to demonstrate commercially-focused sub-orbital launch services is a great example of that axiom."

Rocket Lab is becoming an even bigger player in the world of hypersonic technology.

The militaries of the United States and the United Kingdom have both picked the California-based company as a potential partner for their multibillion-dollar programs dedicated to building hypersonic technology.

Rocket Lab can now compete for contracts via the two programs, offering the services of its HASTE suborbital rocket as a hypersonic testbed.

"The ability to contribute toward the collective security of the United States and the United Kingdom across both of these important programs is a proud moment for the HASTE team, and a demonstration of Rocket Lab’s commitment to lead from the front when it comes to innovative and unique solutions for hypersonic technology development," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement on Monday (April 14), when the news was announced.

"Keeping pace with global developments means more affordable tests at a higher rate that expands the boundaries of hypersonic technology — and that’s a capability we're already providing all in one platform with HASTE, at a commercial price and cadence that serves the mission of both nations," he added.

Related: Rocket Lab selected to launch more hypersonic test vehicles for US military

The U.S. program is a $46 billion effort run by the Air Force called the Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract. The U.K. Ministry of Defense project, called the Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework, has a budget of 1 billion pounds (about $1.3 billion US), according to Rocket Lab.

HASTE is a modified suborbital version of Rocket Lab's workhorse Electron launcher — and the connection lies in its name, which is short for "Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron."

HASTE has launched thrice to date, each time from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. More launches are on tap for the near future, some of which will help test other tech for the U.S. military.

California-based space company Rocket Lab will launch more hypersonic test vehicles for the U.S. Military, as the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to invest in hypersonic technology.

Rocket Lab announced on Jan. 7 that it will be a part of a team, led by defense contractor Kratos, for the the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0, which is tasked with ramping up the capacity for hypersonic test flights.

Rocket Lab's HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) is a variant of the company's workhorse Electron launcher designed to launch hypersonic test vehicles on suborbital flights. On Nov. 24 last year, Rocket Lab used HASTE to complete a suborbital mission from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Virginia's Wallops Island, which tested hypersonic technology for the DoD. With this new agreement, it looks like the New Zealand-based company will be launch more.

"We're thrilled to be part of the Kratos-led team for the next iteration of the MACH-TB program and ready to serve the U.S. Department of Defense with even more high-cadence hypersonic technology with our HASTE launch vehicle," Brian Rogers, Rocket Lab's Vice President Global Launch Services, said in a statement.

After 25 test flights under a previous program, the new MACH-TB 2.0 program aims to increase the Pentagon's capabilities to launch and test hypersonic vehicles, according to Defense Scoop. The 5-year contract for the MACH-TB 2.0, worth $1.45 billion, was established by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E) Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), an office that advises U.S. military leadership on research and engineering, specifically on emerging technologies, according to a DOD statement. The TRMC makes sure all of the necessary infrastructure is in place for testing new hardware.

Rocket Lab leadership touted the company's track record with these types of test launches. "Our demonstrated ability to date to deliver successful HASTE launches that test these new technologies is testament to our dedication in advancing hypersonic innovation for the nation alongside our government and industry partners," Rogers continued.

Now, with MACH-TB 2.0 in place, Rocket Lab will continue their work on hypersonic technology by helping with the launches, starting this year.

"MACH-TB is an essential tool to accelerate science and technology experiments into next generation, leap-ahead hypersonic capabilities for our nation," George Rumford, Director of the Test Resource Management Center, said in a statement. "We are excited to continue the success of the MACH-TB program with this award."

Boeing has dreams of a hypersonic passenger plane, and it looks like something straight out of science fiction.

The hypersonic aircraft could have "military or commercial applications" and is just one of several such vehicles Boeing engineers are studying to develop superfast transportation technology, the company said in a statement. In an artist's concept, the plane looks sleek and futuristic, with extremely swept-back wings, twin tails and sharp, pointed nose.

Hypersonic aircraft are capable of traveling at speeds of Mach 5 and beyond. Mach 5 is about five times the speed of sound, or 3,806 mph (6,125 km/h) at sea level. NASA's space shuttles, for comparison, traveled at Mach 25 when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The U.S. military has tested hypersonic weapons that hit Mach 20 in the past. [Supersonic! The 11 Fastest Military Airplanes]

Boeing unveiled its hypersonic passenger plane concept Tuesday (June 26) in Atlanta at the 2018 Aviation and Aeronautics Forum hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"We're excited about the potential of hypersonic technology to connect the world faster than ever before," Kevin Bowcutt, Boeing's senior technical fellow and chief scientist of hypersonics, said in a statement. "Boeing is building upon a foundation of six decades of work designing, developing and flying experimental hypersonic vehicles, which makes us the right company to lead the effort in bringing this technology to market in the future."

While Boeing sets its sights on hypersonic passenger travel, NASA and others are pursuing other projects to advance commercial supersonic travel.

NASA is building the newly named X-59 QueSST experimental aircraft to test technology needed for quiet supersonic travel. The project aims to minimize the disruptive sonic booms that have prevented commercial supersonic flights over land in the past.

Meanwhile, the companies Virgin Galactic and Boom are working together on a supersonic jet designed to fly at twice the speed of sound, or Mach 2. The company Spike Aerospace is working on its own supersonic plane, called the S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet, to shush sonic booms.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.