April 24 - Rocket Lab (RKLB, Financial) shares climbed more than 5% on Thursday morning after the aerospace company secured a new contract to launch a hypersonic test flight for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The mission will be carried out using Rocket Lab's HASTE suborbital vehicle as part of the MACH-TB 2.0 program led by Kratos (KTOS), a $1.45 billion initiative to boost testing cadence for hypersonic technologies. The launch is scheduled no earlier than Q1 2026 and will take place at Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2 in Wallops Island, Virginia.

This is the first full-scale test under MACH-TB 2.0 for Rocket Lab, which joined Kratos' subcontractor team in January following successful launches during the program's first phase. HASTE, a modified version of the Electron rocket, supports payloads up to 700 kg and can simulate speeds above 7.5 km per second—key for testing glide, ballistic, and air-breathing technologies.

The new mission adds to a growing slate of hypersonic tests lined up through 2026. Rocket Lab has also been tapped for related U.S. and U.K. defense frameworks, including the U.S. Air Force's EWAAC and the U.K. MOD's HTCDF programs.