The Hypersonic Race: NASA and Rocket Laboratories at the Start

Hypersonic speed may evoke the breathtaking races of Speed Racer, but here a completely different storm of speed is unleashed. With speeds reaching up to five times the speed of sound—about 3,800 miles per hour—hypersonic technology even leaves Top Gun hero Tom Cruise standing aside. A flight from New York to Los Angeles in about 30 minutes would be a breeze. NASA is firmly focusing on this technology to achieve new pioneering feats in rapid point-to-point and space access research. In the long term, NASA plans to develop reusable hypersonic vehicles equipped with efficient engines for routine flights around the globe. This vision, which could take shape by 2050, envisions such a vehicle as the first stage of a two-stage space system. As early as 1949, the American research rocket WAC Corporal achieved hypersonic speed for the first time, although it burned up upon reentry. Then in 1961, Major Robert White set significant speed records with the X-15 rocket in service with the U.S. Air Force. More recently, a test flight by Chinese scientists with an extraordinarily designed hypersonic aircraft garnered attention. Such development moves away from traditional, sleek designs and instead employs thick, round fuselages and cape-like wings. Hypersonic technologies also play a role in the field of armaments. While German scientists designed hypersonic weapons as early as the 1930s, Russia now sees effective applications and implemented such missiles during the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Rocket Lab USA successfully launched a suborbital mission in November to test hypersonic technologies for the U.S. Department of Defense, thereby making significant advances in the field of this high-speed technology.