HIBEX

HIBEX, the High Impulse Booster Experiment or High Boost Experiment, was an experimental vehicle created to develop high-acceleration booster technology and explore the problems of extremely high accelerations. It was not linked to a specific weapon system, but its long-term objective was the development of an anti-ballistic missile such as the Sprint. HIBEX had a short conical body and was powered by a solid-propellant rocket motor. Accelerating at 400g, it achieved Mach 8 velocities within 2 seconds of launch. Then-new laser gyros were used in its guidance and control section because conventional mechanical ones were too slow for the required reaction time and acceleration. Conceived in 1962 shortly after the Nike X program was initiated, its flight test program began in February 1965 at White Sands Missile Range, and the last of 10 launches occurred in January 1966. Most tests were conducted from underground cells, with HIBEX ignited within the silo, and the final firing was made above ground.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States