The suborbital flight, carried out using Rocket Lab’s HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) vehicle, lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia, at 13:00 UTC (8:00am local time) on 18 November 2025.
The mission was led by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and carried a primary government payload built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, alongside several secondary experimental payloads from federal and industry partners. All payloads were designed to advance technologies relevant to missile defence.
The launch forms part of the Defence Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program, which seeks to accelerate the testing of emerging hypersonic systems through lower-cost, rapid-turnaround flight opportunities. Rocket Lab delivered the mission just 14 months after signing the contract, a timeline the company said highlights the advantages of using commercially developed launch systems for defence test activities.
According to Rocket Lab, the use of commercial, liquid-fuelled launch vehicles offers significant schedule and cost efficiencies for agencies conducting developmental testing, risk-reduction activities and non-traditional target trials.
Rocket Lab’s vice-president of global launch services, Brian Rogers, said the mission underlined the value of leveraging commercial innovation for national security needs.
“HASTE is an important platform for accelerating hypersonic technology readiness and we’re proud to be delivering this mission for DIU and MDA,” he said.
DIU’s director of emerging technology, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Estep, said the partnership demonstrated the benefits of tapping into commercial space capabilities.
“Accessing the commercial and non-traditional ecosystem is a key enabler for accelerating progress in the hypersonics community, particularly for closing mission timelines and improving affordability,” he said. “Working with MDA to demonstrate commercially focused suborbital launch services is a great example of that.”
The mission was the sixth flight of the HASTE rocket since its debut in 2023. HASTE is a suborbital variant of Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher, the world’s most frequently flown small orbital rocket. It features the same carbon fibre construction and 3D-printed engines as Electron, but with a modified Kick Stage and a larger payload envelope tailored for hypersonic testing.
Capable of deploying payloads at speeds above 7.5 kilometres per second, HASTE supports testing of air-breathing, glide and ballistic systems, as well as re-entry technologies.
Together, HASTE and Electron have now carried more than 200 payloads for government and commercial operators worldwide.