MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. The German-British aerospace company Hypersonica announced the first successful flight test of its HS1 hypersonic missile prototype, the startup said in a press release on February 10.
The missile was launched from the And·ya Space Center in northern Norway on February 3. The release noted that HS1 was able to reach speeds exceeding Mach 6 (7,400 km/h) and travel approximately 300 km. Throughout the flight, the missile's systems operated normally, and the operability of its individual components at hypersonic speeds was successfully confirmed.
The precise specifications of the advanced munition were not disclosed. The release merely noted that the missile is several meters long and weighs over one ton.
Hypersonica emphasized that they were the first private company from the EU to launch a hypersonic missile, as such developments had previously been classified and funded by the state.
Furthermore, they claim that only nine months elapsed from the start of the munition's design to the first test launch, demonstrating that even such complex technologies can be developed in a compressed timeframe. This is facilitated by the HS1 modular design for quick upgrades and to shorten development cycles to months from years, cutting costs by more than 80% compared to "conventional approaches." The information obtained during the first test launch will be used by the company's experts in the design and development of future high-speed missiles, and will also help analyze the characteristics of enemy weapons, the release said.
In a conversation with the weekly Defense News, a Hypersonica representative noted "Europe doesn’t have 20 years or billions to spend on developing hypersonic strike capabilities." The company said, "A new kind of tech-development approach is needed, and that’s what we’re bringing with our rapid iterative approach."
Now the company, founded by two doctoral graduates from the University of Oxford in 2023, plans to continue refining the product in stages, with the goal of launching the HS1 into serial production by 2029.