US Boosts Hypersonic Race with $90.8M Stratolaunch Test Contract

MOJAVE, CA – February 19, 2026 – In a significant move to accelerate the nation's high-speed defense capabilities, aerospace innovator Stratolaunch has been awarded a $90.8 million contract to conduct a series of hypersonic flight tests for the United States government. The award, part of the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0 program, tasks the company with providing critical flight data over the next two years, leveraging its unique air-launch system and reusable test vehicles.

The contract was formally awarded on September 30, 2025, by the Department of War's Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), an entity within the Department of Defense (DoD) responsible for overseeing the nation's test infrastructure. This partnership underscores a strategic pivot towards leveraging private sector innovation to address one of the most pressing national security challenges: mastering flight at speeds of Mach 5 and beyond.

A Critical Push in a High-Stakes Race

The investment in Stratolaunch is a direct response to the escalating global race for hypersonic supremacy. For years, defense analysts have warned that the United States has fallen behind strategic competitors like China and Russia, both of which have reportedly fielded operational hypersonic weapons. These systems, capable of traveling at more than five times the speed of sound while maneuvering unpredictably, pose a formidable challenge to existing missile defense architectures, dramatically shrinking response times for targeted nations.

The DoD has designated hypersonics as a top modernization priority, seeking to develop not only offensive capabilities but also a robust defense against them. A primary bottleneck in this effort has been the lack of frequent, affordable, and reliable testing opportunities. Historically, hypersonic test flights have been expensive, single-use missions launched from government ranges, leading to a slow and costly development cycle. The MACH-TB program was created specifically to break this paradigm by fostering a more agile and responsive test ecosystem.

By aiming to increase the tempo of testing to as many as 50 flights per year, the TRMC is looking to create a steady stream of real-world data. This data is essential for validating advanced materials, guidance systems, and aerodynamic models needed to build the next generation of American high-speed vehicles.

Reusability: The Game-Changer for High-Speed Flight

At the heart of Stratolaunch's selection for this critical task is its revolutionary approach centered on reusability. The company's system consists of two key components: the colossal Roc carrier aircraft, the world's largest aircraft by wingspan, and the Talon-A, a fully autonomous, rocket-powered hypersonic test vehicle.

The Roc acts as a mobile, airborne launchpad, carrying the Talon-A to a high altitude before releasing it to ignite its engine and accelerate to hypersonic speeds. This air-launch method provides immense flexibility, allowing for launches from various locations and on diverse trajectories, bypassing the constraints of ground-based launch sites and unfavorable weather.

More importantly, the Talon-A vehicle is designed for reuse. Stratolaunch made headlines and proved its concept with the successful flights and runway landings of its Talon-A2 (TA-2) vehicle in late 2024 and early 2025. During these missions, the TA-2 was released from the Roc, surpassed Mach 5 over the Pacific Ocean, and then autonomously glided to a conventional runway landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base. This marked the first successful recovery of a reusable hypersonic vehicle in the United States since the X-15 program concluded in 1968, a landmark achievement that caught the attention of the Pentagon.

Reusability drastically alters the economics and timeline of hypersonic research. By recovering the vehicle, engineers can quickly retrieve onboard experiments and analyze invaluable flight data. Furthermore, the vehicle can be refurbished and prepared for its next mission in a fraction of the time and cost associated with building an entirely new one.

Inside the MACH-TB 2.0 Initiative

The $90.8 million award places Stratolaunch as a key provider under Task 3 of the MACH-TB 2.0 program, which is focused on leveraging Reusable, Recoverable, and Innovative (RRI) flight test solutions. The program is managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division through a flexible contracting vehicle known as an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape and rapidly onboard commercial technology.

The program itself is a multi-faceted effort involving several industry partners. While Stratolaunch provides its unique air-launch and recovery service, other companies like Kratos Defense & Security Solutions are engaged under different task orders to handle systems engineering and integration, demonstrating the DoD's strategy of building a diverse portfolio of test capabilities.

In a statement from the company, Dr. Zachary Krevor, CEO and President of Stratolaunch, emphasized the company's readiness. "Stratolaunch is proud to continue our partnership and contribute our expertise to this vital national defense priority," he said. "Our fully reusable, air-launch platform offers unmatched flexibility and frequency for hypersonic flight testing, which is essential for accelerating the development of advanced high-speed technologies for the United States."

Dr. Krevor added, "The success of our TA-2 flights demonstrated our readiness to support the hypersonic flight test goals of MACH-TB. We look forward to working alongside our government and industry partners to push the boundaries of high-speed flight."

Over the next two years, the flights conducted by Stratolaunch will carry a variety of government and commercial payloads, turning the Talon-A into a flying laboratory. The data gathered will inform a wide range of hypersonic programs, helping the U.S. not only catch up but potentially leapfrog its adversaries in the race for high-speed technological superiority.