DARPA officials reported late Friday that the hypersonic test vehicle-2 (HTV-2) launched April 22 via a Minotaur IV Lite from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., failed to complete its 30-minute glide over the Pacific Ocean. An April 23 DARPA release states that the Minotaur “executed first of its kind energy maneuvers, clamshell payload fairing release, and HTV-2 deployment.” However, the release continues, “Approximately nine minutes into the mission, telemetry assets experienced a loss of signal from the HTV-2.” DARPA has an engineering team reviewing the test data and expects the technical data to “provide insight” into the HTV-2 flight characteristics.
House, Senate Unveil Competing Proposals for 2026 Budget
July 11, 2025
Lawmakers from the House and Senate laid out competing versions of the annual defense policy bill on July 11, with vastly different potential outcomes for some of the Air Force’s most embattled programs.