Spyder
A rocket built to push test vehicles to hypersonic speeds, designed for missions up to Mach 10, for national labs and defense research.
Why it matters
Labs developing heat shields and reentry vehicles need real flights at hypersonic speed. Spyder is meant to provide those flights at lower cost and on shorter timelines.
How the technology works
Spyder launches from White Sands Missile Range and accelerates a test vehicle to hypersonic speed before releasing it. It came out of an eight-year effort with Cesaroni Aerospace, NASA and Los Alamos.
A follow-up flight was to add guidance and control.
Sources
Updated Oct 21, 2026 · How we source facts · Suggest a correction