Drew Dixon
Hypersonic engine testing will be the latest addition to the portfolio of research projects being added to the Cecil Airport and commerce facilities in West Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) board this week gave approval to a lease agreement for an engine testing facility that is designed to test hypersonic aircraft engines for transatlantic travel. The five-year deal is with Hermeus Corp., a company that is based in Atlanta.
Hermeus has long been involved in the development of hypersonic aircraft, which reach speeds five times the speed of sound. The deal will bolster the Cecil Airport workforce with an addition of 100 jobs and all are expected to draw six-figure salaries, or close to it. While Hermeus will infuse about $135 million of investment in the project, the JAA approved about $2 million in additional economic incentives for the development.
The engines to be tested and developed are projected to speed air travel significantly and could possibly propel an aircraft from New York to London in about 90 minutes. The Jacksonville site would be the fifth in the country for engine development for Hermeus.
Hermeus is expected to begin work on the project later this Summer.
For Cecil Airport, the Hermeus addition is another feather in the cap of the sprawling facility that used to be a U.S. Navy Air Station. Due to military downsizing, Cecil was turned over to local government control through the JAA and has since thrived in multiple civilian aircraft development and commercial travel businesses.
Since 1999, nearly $200 million has been spent on development of the air facilities at Cecil. In recent years, Cecil Field has expanded operations and facilities that focus on aerospace development and there are efforts to establish the airfield’s presence as a Space Port. It’s one of eight FAA-licensed horizontal launch commercial spaceports in the U.S.
