HERMEUS CELEBRATES GROUNDBREAKING FOR HYPERSONIC ENGINE AND FLIGHT TEST FACILITY IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

The new facility advances U.S. capability to more effectively test and field various hypersonic technologies

September 9, 2024

JACKSONVILLE, FL – Hermeus has selected Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida for its hypersonic engine test facility. Named HEAT (High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility), this facility will be Hermeus’ largest and most technologically advanced test site to date and become a national asset for hypersonic testing. The site will also be the initial base for Hermeus’ high-Mach flight test capabilities starting in 2026, expanding cadence and affordability of the nation’s flight test infrastructure.

Hermeus announced their plans for the new facility at a groundbreaking ceremony at the Cecil Airport site. Hermeus executives and employees were joined by U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL- 04), U.S. Congressman John Rutherford (FL-05), State Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), Mayor Donna Deegan, Florida Department of Commerce officials, JAXUSA officials, and other community leaders. 

The HEAT facility will provide continuous high flow rate, high enthalpy and low-pressure conditions required for high-supersonic and low-hypersonic flight modeling. This capability will make the facility an important asset to more effectively test and field various hypersonic technologies – not only for Hermeus but also for the Department of Defense and its commercial partners.  

Hermeus will test a variety of engines and propulsion subsystems at HEAT – from the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine to Hermeus’ proprietary hypersonic Chimera engine. The facility will be built in phases with initial sea-level static engine tests starting before the end of 2024. Future phases of the facility will introduce continuous high-Mach vitiated air flow to simulate more flight-like high-Mach testing conditions on the ground.

“The United States is lacking in the capability to rapidly and economically test air-breathing hypersonic engines,” said AJ Piplica, Hermeus Co-Founder and CEO. “The few test facilities available have years-long waitlists and are prohibitively expensive. The commercially operated testing services that we will offer at our HEAT facility are more economical and responsive to dynamic test requirements and are better suited to match the ever-changing needs of the warfighter.”

Additionally, Cecil Airport will serve as the initial base for Hermeus’ commercial high-Mach flight test service. Hermeus’ autonomous Quarterhorse aircraft will depart from Cecil, ferry into the Eastern Range to conduct flight test operations, then return and land at Cecil. Services are expected to begin in 2026, quickly scaling capacity to a weekly test cadence to meet the demand signal of multiple government and commercial customers.

Hermeus expects to invest $135 million in the project and create more than 100 jobs over the course of the decade.

As a former Naval Air Station, Cecil Airport has significant test infrastructure already in place, including multiple test cells and an aircraft hush house which Hermeus will inherit and build upon. Additionally, its location in Jacksonville, FL offers a strong aerospace workforce, access to airspace for hypersonic flight test, and proximity to Hermeus’ headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

“Northeast Florida is a major center for aerospace and defense manufacturing, and our legacy will continue on with Hermeus, as they launch a new era in advanced aviation manufacturing to deliver cutting-edge capabilities to our warfighters,” said Congressman Aaron Bean. “I’m proud Jacksonville will be the home of Hermeus and look forward to celebrating their pioneering advancements in hypersonic aviation that will be made right here in Duval County."

"I am excited to welcome Hermeus to Jacksonville," said U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford. "The Hermeus HEAT facility will create at least one hundred new highly skilled jobs, further growing the aerospace and defense technology sector right here in Northeast Florida. It is companies like Hermeus who produce the innovation needed to defend against the evolving threats facing our nation today and in the future. I am proud to recognize this huge win for Northeast Florida, and I look forward to seeing the successes Hermeus achieves right here in our community."

“This is a huge win for our region and a testament to the common-sense regulatory and low-tax policies that we have worked to implement in Florida,” said Sen. Clay Yarborough.

"We are excited that Hermeus is joining Jacksonville's growing aerospace industry,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “They are putting our city at the center of the hypersonic jet development that will forever transform air travel. As a proud military town, we also welcome the work they will perform for the Department of Defense. Jacksonville is fast becoming an innovation hub thanks to companies like Hermeus."

ABOUT HERMEUS

Hermeus is an aerospace and defense technology company founded to radically accelerate air travel by delivering hypersonic aircraft. The company aims to develop hypersonic aircraft quickly and cost-effectively by integrating hardware-rich, iterative development with modern computing and autonomy. This approach has been validated through design, build, and test of the company’s first combined turbojet-ramjet engine and is now being scaled through its first flight vehicle program, Quarterhorse. Hermeus is also developing Darkhorse — an uncrewed hypersonic aircraft designed to deliver unique asymmetric capabilities to the warfighter.