"This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight," said Stefan Powell, CEO of New Zealand's Dawn Aerospace. "To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded UAV to break the sound barrier."

The Mk-II actually made its first test flights back in 2021, when the Civil Aviation Authority granted Dawn permission to operate out of conventional airports to assess the airframe and avionics. But the tech demonstrator didn't rocket into the air, it was equipped with surrogate jet engines

It would be a couple of years before the uncrewed spaceplane nailed its maiden flight powered by a hydrogen peroxide/kerosene rocket engine. At that time it managed speeds of around 196 mph (170 kt or 315 km/h) at altitudes of 6,000 ft (1,829 m).