Test Flights

The US Air Force is stomping on the accelerator to field advanced hypersonic missiles as the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Ursa Major announce the successful completion of a flight test of the mass-producible Draper liquid rocket engine.

Aerospace startup Hermeus has taken another step toward challenging the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s legendary supersonic speed record as the company’s uncrewed Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico on March 2, 2026 for its maiden flight.

Maybe cars, trucks, and motorcycles aren't exciting enough, because Honda is moving into space vehicles. The company has announced that it has successfully flown a reusable rocket to an altitude of almost 300 m (1,000 ft) and then safely landed it.

The word "flying car" immediately puts visions of "The World of Tomorrow" in my head; retro-looking flashy contraptions. If you were to ask Dezső Molnár what his vision of a flying car looked like, he'd simply show you the one he's building now.

If you've been keeping tabs on aviation news as of late, you saw that Boom Supersonic just recently broke the sound barrier with its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft. Oddly enough, no one on the ground heard a thing during its "boomless" cruise.

The Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane took to the skies last year for its maiden flight with a rocket engine. Now Dawn Aerospace has been give the official nod from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority to undertake test flights at unlimited speeds.

Fast-tracking the hypersonic era, Hermeus has rolled out the next prototype of its program, to create a family of aircraft that can fly beyond Mach 5. The Quarterhorse Mk 1 is set to fly later this year, testing its high-speed takeoffs and landings.

The first private supersonic aircraft since Concorde retired two decades ago has successfully taken to the skies. On March 22, Boom's XB-1 supersonic demonstrator completed its maiden flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California.

Stratolaunch Systems, the company behind the world's largest aircraft, is making headlines again. The firm's Talon-A1 hypersonic test aircraft has successfully completed its first powered flight, which took place last weekend in Mojave, California.

eVTOLs are one of those things that many groups announce their plans to create, but fail to produce in physical form. Such is not the case with Overair's Butterfly, however, the just-unveiled prototype of which should soon begin flight testing.

Two years ago, American air mobility company Electra announced that it was partnering with the US Air Force on the development of an ultra-short takeoff and landing (ultra-STOL) aircraft. Earlier this month, a demonstrator version of that plane made its first two flights.

Back in 2021, we heard how the Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane had made its first test flights … but it was using surrogate jet engines. Now, however, the vehicle has made its first flights using an actual rocket engine.