Ursa Major said on April 16, 2026, that its Hadley liquid rocket engine has completed 10 consecutive flights, including multiple launches at sustained hypersonic speeds.
The Berthoud, Colorado-based company said the flights were conducted with Stratolaunch, whose Talon-A test vehicle has now flown at least twice above Mach 5 and been recovered both times.
The milestone ties the propulsion supplier more closely to the Pentagon’s push for reusable high-speed rocket systems.
Talon-A is Stratolaunch’s reusable hypersonic test vehicle, designed to fly at Mach 5 or faster and give US defense customers a way to test payloads and technologies in real hypersonic flight. It is air-launched from Stratolaunch’s carrier aircraft and has now completed multiple hypersonic flights followed by recovery.
Stratolaunch disclosed in May 2025 that Talon-A2 completed a second reusable hypersonic flight in March 2025, following a first such flight in December 2024. The Talon-A is powered by Ursa Major’s Hadley engine.
Ursa Major said several of the missions reused the same Hadley engines.
Hypersonic generally means faster than Mach 5. The Pentagon’s interest goes beyond raw speed. Hypersonic vehicles operate in an extreme flight regime marked by intense heat and aerodynamic stress, and US defense officials have for years pushed for more testing capacity as the military works to develop both offensive systems and countermeasures.
A recoverable vehicle paired with reflown engines could give the Pentagon a more practical way to test propulsion, sensors, communications and other payloads repeatedly without burning through a new vehicle for every mission.
Ursa Major describes Hadley as a liquid oxygen-kerosene engine built with additive manufacturing and designed for hypersonic applications as well as space launch.
Chief Executive Chris Spagnoletti said the flight milestones show hypersonic capability is moving beyond isolated test sorties.
“These flights aren’t demonstrations, they’re operational test bed missions,” Spagnoletti said. “Ten successful flights is proof that hypersonic capability is here.”
