Re-entry was where the Space Shuttle truly faced its greatest challenge. Traveling at nearly 8 kilometers per second, the orbiter slammed into Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed—so fast it created ...

North American Aviation’s X-15 rocket plane reached 4,520 mph and climbed to 354,200 feet during a program that ran from 1959 to 1968, producing flight data NASA credits as foundational to later U.S.

Hypersonic vehicles have become the latest military prestige technology, and the US seems to be lagging its rivals. That could change after the successful flight of an autonomous and reusable ...

With planes like the now-famous Lockheed-designed SR-71 Blackbird and the U-2 Dragon Lady capable of flying at extremely high altitudes, touching the edge of space is something that a handful of ...

Hypersonic flight could one day make long-haul travel as quick as a short movie. Researchers are testing how turbulence behaves at extreme speeds, a critical hurdle for designing these aircraft. Their ...

Stratolaunch may conduct a hypersonic test flight in the coming days from California's Mojave Air & Space Port. The company uses the world's largest aircraft, Roc, to launch its uncrewed, reusable ...