X-51A Waverider test flight ends in failure

The US Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) third test flight of the Boeing/Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne X-51A Waverider hypersonic test vehicle on 14 August has ended in failure.

Though the test article was successfully launched from a Boeing B-52 bomber near Point Mugu, California, the vehicle developed a fault after only 16s of flight-- before the X-51A separated from its rocket booster. When the X51A did separate from the booster rocket 15s later, the USAF says it could not maintain control of the vehicle due to a faulty control fin.

The X-51A subsequently crashed.

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