Longshot, a kinetic space launch company developing a ground-based accelerator to reach hypersonic velocities, has been awarded a spot on the AEDC Velocity Alliance, a new Air Force consortium dedicated to modernizing the nation's test infrastructure, including capabilities for hypersonics.
The Velocity Alliance was established by the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), in partnership with the Air Force Test Center, to create a pre-qualified industrial base for engineering and construction projects aimed at sustaining and restoring crucial test infrastructure for advanced defense technologies.
Longshot said it's the only member building kinetic test accelerators that can test full scale systems in low level free flight. The company's ground-based, multi-injection accelerator is designed to propel payloads to hypersonic speeds at an order of magnitude lower cost than traditional rocket-based testing. The Velocity Alliance will leverage this capability as it works to validate defense technologies operating at higher speeds and altitudes. Rather than a single-use missile that reaches its target speed once, Longshot's system is built to fire repeatedly, giving test teams the ability to gather data across many iterations instead of relying on the outcomes of fewer, more expensive tests.
A recent $5 million investment brought Longshot to $20 million in total funding, shortly after the company secured a former U.S. Navy hangar at Alameda Point, California, as its new headquarters. Aside from giving Longshot a domestic base to build out its work for the Velocity Alliance, the Alameda facility allows the company to pursue the design, assembly and testing of some of the largest ground-based launch hardware in the world. Initial hydrogen testing is set to begin in fall 2026, when Longshot hopes to reach speeds above Mach 5 with payloads of up to 2 kilograms followed by the construction of a larger launcher capable of accelerating hundreds of kilograms to Mach 5-7 in early 2027.
"We’re grateful for the support the Air Force is providing industry partners as we work to modernize testing at speed," said Mark Bigham, Longshot's Vice President of Defense, in a statement. "Longshot gives the Velocity Alliance something unique: a way to generate hypersonic test conditions for full scale systems on demand, at significantly lower cost and lead time than other approaches."
AEDC has allocated federal funding earmarked for modernization work in the near future, covering test facilities and ranges across the country. Longshot's membership positions the company to compete for test infrastructure projects as AEDC works through its modernization portfolio in the years ahead.
