Atlanta-based Hermeus Corp. broke ground Sept. 9 on its hypersonic engine test facility in West Jacksonville.
The High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility (HEAT) at Cecil Airport will be Hermeus’ largest and most technologically advanced test location, according to company representatives.
Hermeus will use its commercial high-speed flight test prototype, Quarterhorse, to support its research for future hypersonic aircraft.
The site also will serve as the initial base for Hermeus’ high-Mach flight test capabilities, beginning in 2026.
According to NASA, Mach 1, or the speed of sound, is about 768 mph at sea level. Hypersonic speeds are greater than Mach 5, or more than 3,000 mph.
The HEAT facility will provide the continuous high flow rate, high enthalpy and low-pressure conditions required for high-supersonic and low-hypersonic flight modeling. Hermeus plans to test engines and propulsion subsystems at HEAT, ranging 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 scheduled to start before the end of 2024. Future phases will introduce continuous high-Mach vitiated airflow 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 yearslong 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.”
The Jacksonville City Council unanimously approved up to $2 million in incentives July 23 for the Hermeus project.
The incentives include a 10-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant up to $2 million, which is a partial refund of the increased real property and intangible tax revenue generated by the facility’s construction.
According to Ordinance 2024-0490, the HEAT project plans a $135 million capital investment for its expansion and will create 100 jobs. The Jacksonville Aviation Authority board unanimously approved a five-year lease agreement for the Cecil site July 29.
Hermeus’ website notes that the company has a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit to “mature hypersonic aircraft subsystem and mission system technology.”