Rocket Lab Lands Deal With Leidos For Four HASTE Missions Launch

Rocket Lab USA Inc RKLB has signed a contract with Leidos Holdings Inc LDOS to launch four HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) missions.

The four new missions follow the success of Rocket Lab's first HASTE launch for Leidos in June this year.

The missions are scheduled across 2024 and 2025 and will lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. 

Rocket Lab was chosen for the hypersonic test launch under the MACH-TB project.

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The Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) program is meant to increase the speed of testing for all commercially available hypersonic systems. 

The project was awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane through the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) vehicle on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center (TRMC).

By using the heritage of Rocket Lab's low-cost Electron rocket, HASTE will offer true commercial testing capability at a fraction of the cost of current full-scale tests.

Also Read: Rocket Lab Signs Launch Deal With Japanese Earth Imaging Company iQPS

Price Action: RKLB shares closed lower by 12.17% at $5.30 on Tuesday.