Hypersonic

It was fourth time's the charm as the US Air Force successfully launched its hypersonic AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) from a B-52H Stratofortress on May 14 off the coast of Southern California, following three failures.

Green Launch says it can fire a space vehicle skywards three times faster than SpinLaunch's kinetic launch system. Its huge hydrogen gas cannon can produce hypersonic launch velocities upwards of Mach 17, enabling orbital altitudes up to 1,000 km.

DARPA, the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet Rocketdyne have successfully conducted a second test flight of a Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) hypersonic missile, over an undisclosed location.

A UK company says it's demonstrated fusion in record time, on a shoestring US$59 million budget, using an innovative new approach that embeds fuel pellets in tiny, falling cube targets, then shoots projectiles at them at 19 times the speed of sound.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Office of Scientific Research are planning to live-stream a rocket launch in Virginia tonight, running hypersonic tests on the Bolt II flight system at speeds up to Mach 6.

Described by his PR team as "like Russia's Elon Musk," serial entrepreneur Mikhail Korkorich says his new company Destinus is building a hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions, transcontinental cargo drone capable of hypersonic Mach 15 cruise speeds.

Aerospace startup Hermeus recently unveiled a full-size, partly-functional mock-up of its highly-streamlined, delta-winged Quarterhorse hypersonic aircraft before an invited audience of dignitaries, who were treated to the firing of an inbuilt test engine.

In a live online sale on November 6, Auction Team Breker offered one of the four remaining CIAM-NASA Hypersonic Flying Laboratory (HFL) "Kholod" hypersonic test bed missiles, which sold to an undisclosed European company for €27,700 (US$32,100).

The US Navy has conducted a successful live-fire ground test of the first stage of the US' common hypersonic missile. It was the first test to include the thrust vector control system for maneuvering the rocket in flight.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Northrop Grumman successfully flew an air-breathing hypersonic missile. Part of a program for DARPA and the US Air Force, the HAWC prototype promises hypersonic missiles that can fly farther and at lower altitudes.

One way scientists hope to prevent hypersonic aircraft from overheating is by having the propellant do double duty as a coolant, and newly developed 3D-printed catalysts could be the missing piece to this puzzle.

The US Air Force has awarded US$60 million to aerospace startup Hermeus for flight testing of its hypersonic aircraft for military and commercial applications. Capable of flying at Mach 5, the Quarterhorse will be the world's fastest reusable aircraft.