The launch agreement is the first full-scale flight test to be awarded by Kratos under the MACH-TB 2.0 contract, a $1.45 billion program designed to rapidly expand the number and frequency of opportunities to test hypersonic technologies for the nation. Rocket Lab was selected to join the Kratos-led team of subcontractors for MACH-TB 2.0 after previously delivering multiple successful hypersonic test launches for the first iteration of the MACH-TB program in 2023.
Operating at an unmatched commercial price, capability, and launch cadence, HASTE is uniquely qualified to meet the needs of the MACH-TB mission. A suborbital variant of Electron — the world's most frequently launched small orbital rocket — HASTE includes much of the same innovative technology as Electron, including carbon fiber composite structures and 3D printed rocket engines, with a larger payload capacity of up to 700 kg / 1,540 lbs.
HASTE can deploy technologies at speeds of more than 7.5 km per second to test air-breathing, glide, and ballistic payloads. Combined, Rocket Lab's HASTE and Electron launch vehicles have deployed 200+ payloads to date.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck said: "In less than two years since its first launch, HASTE has quickly emerged as a leading commercial test platform of hypersonic systems. With our operational speed, cadence, and ability to serve multiple mission profiles in one platform, HASTE is helping to move the needle on hypersonic innovation."
HASTE is also part of the $46 billion Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) under the US Air Force, and has been added to the UK Ministry of Defence's Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF), a £1 billion (~$1.3 billion) program.
Source: www.rocketlabusa.com
