Rocket Lab and Hypersonix to test DART AE aircraft at over 8,600 km/h to test hypersonic weapons

Rocket Lab recently announced the development of a new rocket for hypersonic suborbital launches. She

called Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE). The missile will be used to test the DART AE hypersonic aircraft.

What is known

Last month the US Department of Defensesigned a contract with Hypersonix Launch Systems to develop a high-speed test aircraft. It will be used as part of the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testabilities (HyCAT) program.

The aircraft is named DART AE.Hypersonix is ​​developing the aircraft in Australia. It will have a length of 2.8 meters and a maximum speed of Mach 7 (8643.6 km / h) thanks to the SPARTAN ramjet engine.

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A new press release, which was published on the Hypersonix Launch Systems website, states that the DART AE flight range is 1000 km. Previously, a radius of 500 km appeared.

At this stage of development, DART AE cannottake off on its own. This is what HASTE will be used for. Rocket Lab's rocket will allow DART AE to gain operating speed (Mach 5 / 6174 km / h).

During testing, Hypersonix specialists plan to test engine performance and acceleration. Engineers are also interested in data on flight at hypersonic speeds.