Rocket Lab’s hush-hush launch of it’s first HASTE flight on the 17th will, in time I think, be recognized as a very big deal. There’s incredible pent-up demand for rapid-cycle testing for both military and commercial applications and Rocket Lab’s modified Electron and operational prowess have positioned it at the right place and at the right time:

“The success of this mission demonstrates collaboration across government and industry partners to change the paradigm in hypersonic testing,” said Brian Rogers, Rocket Lab’s senior director of global launch services, in a statement. “HASTE enables the frequent, affordable flight testing needed to advance the nation’s hypersonic technology development.”

Speaking at the Stifel 2023 Cross Sector Insight Conference (Audio) recently, Rocket Lab’s CFO said that they see “dozens and dozens” of launch opportunities emerging in the “not too distant future” and can build an Electron a week to service the market if necessary. Interesting!

Rocket Lab never misses on mission patches either. I’m hoping this one will show up in their store in a few days: