Jane Edwards
Leidos subsidiary Dynetics completed on Saturday its first test launch of a hypersonic test bed from Rocket Lab‘s launch complex at a spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The inaugural launch was conducted as part of the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed program awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane under the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems other transaction authority, Leidos said Sunday.
The MACH-TB program seeks to accelerate testing of commercial hypersonic systems and involves the development of an experimental glide body designed to enable the Dynetics team to collect data and verify the performance of hypersonic glide body components.
“This successful test has demonstrated first hypersonic insertion of a payload from a commercial launch vehicle and the team is ready to move forward into the next phase of this program,” said Leidos CEO Tom Bell.
“It took our MACH-TB team only 45 days to create this innovative technology demonstration, which highlights our ability to deliver on promises,” Bell added.
The Leidos subsidiary will advance the MACH-TB program by exploring additional opportunities for hypersonic test flights to support technology maturation efforts.
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