OREANDA-NEWS  The American Electron rocket company Rocket Lab, which launched on Wednesday Moscow time, launched a suborbital flight vehicle for testing hypersonic technologies in the interests of the Missile Defense Agency of the US Department of Defense, the specialized website Space Launch Now reported.

Details and results of the secret flight of the device are not disclosed. The test was conducted as part of the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program. During previous similar launches, it was reported that their goal was to "advance national interests in protecting the country by testing advanced missile defense technologies."

The Electron rocket launched from NASA's Wallops space center, located on the island of the same name off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of Virginia, on Tuesday at 21:36 Eastern Coast time (Wednesday at 04:36 Moscow time).

This is the seventh flight under the HASTE program, designed to test hypersonic technologies. The first one was held in June 2023.

The two-stage Electron light-class rocket is capable of carrying a payload weighing up to 700 kg.