Special Report: Hypersonix steps up development after DART AE validates core technologies

This computer generated image shows a DART AE in flight, with Rocket Lab's HASTE suborbital testbed launch vehicle. (Hypersonix)

Australian firm Hypersonix Launch Systems is accelerating development of hypersonic technologies, including a multimission aircraft with military applications, following the maiden flight earlier in 2026 of its DART AE (Additive Engineering) platform.

Speaking to Janes in June, Hypersonix co-founder and chief technology officer Michael Smart said DART AE 001 exceeded Mach 5 during its first flight and demonstrated sustained manoeuvring at those speeds.

DART AE is a 3.5 m-long, single-use hypersonic launch vehicle powered by gaseous hydrogen, with a 3D-printed airframe and a mass of 300 kg.

The aircraft was launched on 27 February from Virginia Spaceport Authority's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, US, as part of its first mission (named 'Cassowary Vex').

“The mission allowed us to test propulsion, materials, and control systems in real hypersonic conditions,” Smart said. The firm is now analysing mission flight data to assess how materials, hydrogen propellants, and systems perform under high dynamic pressure representative of operational conditions.

While analysis will continue through much of 2026, an early finding is that scaling up the company's proprietary SPARTAN scramjet engine improved efficiency. Smart said the ground prototype was about half the scale of the flight engine, with performance improving when the engine size was increased.

“It takes a certain amount of time to burn hydrogen. If you make the engine bigger, it burns hydrogen more quickly in terms of the scale of the engine,” Smart said.