An F-15E launched a hypersonic missile demonstrator, dubbed HyFly, which cleanly separated, then successfully ignited its solid rocket booster, reaching a speed greater than Mach 3, as part of a hypersonics test program run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Boeing, states a company news release. The partnership hopes to use the HyFly program to mature the dual combustion ramjet hypersonic missile concept, eventually enabling a missile that is compatible with Air Force platforms as well as Navy aircraft and vessels.
The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion contract on May 29 to build a constellation of satellites that can sense and track airborne targets from orbit.