A hypersonic test bed built by Kratos took its first flight last month, launching experiments for the Missile Defense Agency and hitting speeds above Mach 5. MDA announced the successful flight of its first Hypersonic Testbed, HTB-1, June 14, which took off from Wallops Island in Virginia.
While MDA did not provide details about which company built the system, Kratos confirmed last week that its Erinyes vehicle — named after the Greek goddess of vengeance — flew the mission. The company developed Erinyes in three years for under $15 million with a mix of internal investment and congressional funding.
Now, Erinyes is drawing significant attention from other potential customers within the Defense Department, with Kratos already involved as a subcontractor, providing sounding rockets to MACH-TB. In the meantime, the company is eyeing its second flight for MDA, which is slated for later this year.
Kratos’ hypersonic development work includes a range of services for commercial, DOD, and classified national security customers. The company started out using its sounding rocket technology to provide targeting capabilities to MDA and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in support of its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
