Australia's Hypersonic Launch Systems successfully launched its new generation DART AE hypersonic vehicle from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA, on February 27, 2026, marking a major milestone in Australia's hypersonic technology. The launch was carried out on Rocket Lab's HASTE launch vehicle. As the climax of the "Cassowary Vex" mission, the vehicle reached a maximum speed of Mach 8.
Although this launch is not the first flight of an Australian hypersonic vehicle, it still sets a number of records: DART AE is the world's first hypersonic vehicle made entirely of 3D printed high-temperature alloys, and is driven by an air-breathing SPARTAN scramjet engine and uses green hydrogen fuel.
The flight is led by the Defense Innovation Unit of the U.S. Department of Defense and aims to verify the performance of 3D printing technology, high-temperature materials and autonomous navigation systems in a real hypersonic environment. The flight telemetry data will be compared with pre-simulated digital models.
Launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Rocket Lab 2 launch site at 7 p.m. local time Eastern Standard Time, the HASTE booster sent the 300-kilogram (662-pound) DART AE into a suborbital trajectory. After accelerating to Mach 5, the scramjet ignited in the upper atmosphere.
The aircraft finally reached the target speed of Mach 8 and an altitude of about 26 kilometers (16 miles), flying a distance of about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles, 540 nautical miles) before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. Rocket Lab provided a live broadcast of the mission, but at Hypersonix's request, the video feed was cut off before fairing separation and interstage separation.
Dr. Michael Smart, co-founder of Hypersonix, former NASA researcher, and chair of hypersonic propulsion at the University of Queensland, said: "This mission allowed us to test the propulsion system, materials and control systems under real hypersonic conditions. At these speeds and temperatures, no flight data can replace it. The results will directly guide the design of future combat hypersonic vehicles."