Anglo-German startup Hypersonica has conducted the first test of a privately developed European hypersonic missile.
According to the Munich-based company, the prototype exceeded Mach 6 (7,409 kilometers/4,604 miles per hour) and demonstrated a range of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles).
All onboard systems performed nominally during ascent and descent, with validation completed down to the subcomponent level at hypersonic speeds.
Hypersonica declared the test flight was completed within nine months of the project’s inception. The company aims to finalize development by 2029 under a phased roadmap, with upcoming flights set to demonstrate sustained hypersonic flight, advanced control at extreme velocities, complex maneuverability, and ultimately full mission capability.
A recent 23-million-euro ($28-million) funding round will support the program’s next phase, scaling the prototype into a full-size missile for testing in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
“Hypersonica has achieved a major milestone on our pathway to developing Europe’s first sovereign hypersonic strike capability by 2029,” Hypersonica co-founders Philipp Kerth (CEO) and Marc Ewenz (CTO) declared.
“Our test flight yielded invaluable datasets that will inform the design and development of future high‑speed strike systems and enhance our ability to analyse adversary weapon profiles.
As a privately funded startup, our speed from design to the launchpad in just 9 months should recalibrate expectations about the costs and time necessaryed to develop this crucial capability.”
Cost-Efficient Capability
The company declared the missile’s modular architecture enables rapid upgrades and shorter, more cost-efficient development cycles, reducing costs by more than 80 percent compared with conventional approaches.
Hypersonica has adopted a “software-enabled mass hardware” approach, president and managing director at General Catalyst, Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, declared in an interview.
Unlike resolveed-function systems with long development cycles, software-enabled mass hardware allows capabilities to be continuously updated through software rather than hardware redesign.
Zu Fürstenberg declared the approach enables more extensive debugging and simulation before live testing, accelerating iteration and reducing risk.
While the estimated unit cost has not been disclosed, the company declared it is substantially lower than comparable systems developed through traditional procurement models.
Beyond Hypersonica’s initiative, Europe is pursuing several hypersonic programs, including the UK’s hypersonic cruise missile project, backed by an estimated 1-billion-pound ($1.31 billion) investment.
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