Australia launches 3D-printed, Mach 8 hypersonic missile from US soil (David Szondy, March 02, 2026, New Atlas)
DART AE is the world’s first hypersonic aircraft made entirely from high-temperature alloys using 3D printing. It is also powered by an air-breathing SPARTAN scramjet burning green hydrogen fuel.
According to Rocket Lab, the flight was conducted under the US Department of Defense’s Innovation Unit to validate the 3D-printing techniques, high-temperature materials and autonomous guidance systems under real-world hypersonic conditions. Telemetry from the flight will be compared to simulated digital models generated beforehand.