Stephen Kuper

Under the agreement, Rheinmetall will act as the system integrator for the platform in Germany. The company will oversee its integration into current and future Bundeswehr command and weapons systems, while also adapting the aircraft to meet national requirements and supporting ongoing maintenance and logistics.

Rocket Lab announced the agreement for a series of missions using its HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) vehicle, marking the largest single launch contract in the company’s history. HASTE was earlier this month used to launch a successful test flight of the Hypersonix DART AE aircraft.

The experiment, known as the Dawn Aerospace Radar Tracking Experiment (DARTE), saw Dawn Aerospace operate its suborbital spaceplane Aurora from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre, south of Christchurch. At sea, the Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha tracked the vehicle using its onboard surveillance radar systems.

The funding commitment will take effect if the Australian government agrees to back the mission, which would see Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg become the first astronaut to fly under the Australian flag after training with the European Space Agency.

The deployment sees a No. 12 Squadron RAAF Boeing P-8A Poseidon operating from Andersen Air Force Base as part of Exercise Sea Dragon 2026, a United States Navy-led training activity focused on high-end submarine detection and tracking.

The visit to RAAF Base East Sale, hosted by No. 1 Flying Training School, showcased significant changes to the Air Force’s training pipeline since Australian Women Pilots’ Association members last toured the facility in 2022.