NASA’s mission is to develop hypersonic vehicles for point-to-point travel and space access. These vehicles would utilize airbreathing engines that use oxygen from the atmosphere. By conducting fundamental and applied research on hypersonic flight, NASA aims to create reusable hypersonic vehicles with efficient engines for regular flights worldwide in the future. In the next decade, NASA plans to develop enabling technologies for a first-generation reusable airbreathing vehicle capable of cruising at hypersonic speeds. By 2050, NASA envisions the development of a next-generation reusable hypersonic vehicle that could serve as the first stage in a two-stage space access vehicle.
To achieve this goal, NASA collaborates closely with industry, academia, and other government agencies through its Hypersonic Technology project. This project focuses on investigating fundamental and applied research areas to address the challenges of hypersonic flight. With unique facilities, laboratories, and experts in the field, NASA is well positioned to advance core capabilities and critical technologies needed for mastering hypersonic flight to support U.S. supremacy in this area.
