The U.K. Ministry of Defence has included Rocket Lab USA in its Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework, or HTCDF. The move allows the Long Beach, California-based company to bid for contracts and task orders in the program valued at $1.3 billion. Rocket Lab said it plans to seek projects that will deploy its launch vehicle HASTE, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron.
More Powerful Electron Variant
The HASTE launch platform is a suborbital variant of Electron, Rocket Lab’s small orbital rocket. Both systems are structured with carbon fiber composites and 3D-printed rocket engines, but HASTE offers more powerful features, including a modified upper stage for hypersonic technology tests. The rocket is designed to deploy various technologies, such as ballistic and Earth re-entry payloads, at speeds of over 7.5 kilometers per second. According to Rocket Lab, it has already conducted HASTE and Electron missions with up to 200 payloads from its U.S. and New Zealand launch sites.
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO, said the company is providing an “all-in-one platform” with HASTE. “Keeping pace with global developments means more affordable tests at a higher rate that expands the boundaries of hypersonic technology,” he added.
Other HTCDF Stakeholders
In May 2024, the United Kingdom announced 90 large and small industry and academic organizations eligible to compete for HTCDF contracts, composed of eight lots over seven years. The companies that previously announced eligibility under the framework include Edmonton-based Space Engine Systems and Chantilly, Virginia-based Amentum.
In another British effort, the U.K. Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has partnered with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to test several designs for a future hypersonic propulsion system.
Rocket Lab’s HASTE platform was also chosen by USAF as eligible to compete in the service branch’s $46 billion Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract. The company said Monday that the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract provides a bidding period extending up to 2031, with a broad technology scope and flexible funding.