Rocket Lab [RKLB] on Monday said its HASTE suborbital testbed vehicle has been added to two multi-billion dollar Air Force and United Kingdom contracts to provide hypersonic test launches and other services.
The Air Force award is the potential $46 billion multi-vendor Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) 10-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. EWAAC has 298 vendors.
Under EWAAC, the Air Force can rapidly acquire services and technologies.
For the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s potential $1.3 billion Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework, Rocket Lab is eligible to bid on services, technologies, and testing capabilities in support of the country’s own hypersonic technology.
“Keeping pace with global developments means more affordable tests at a higher rate that expands the boundaries of hypersonic technology and that’s a capability we’re already providing all in one platform with HASTE, at a commercial price and cadence that serves the mission of both nations,” Peter Beck, co-founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, said in a statement.
Using some of the technology from Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle, HASTE has a modified upper kick state for hypersonic technology tests and a larger payload capacity of up to 1,540 pounds. The company says the suborbital rocket can deploy technologies at speeds of more than 7.5 kilometers per second to test air breathing, glide, and ballistic payloads, and technologies to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere from space.