NEWS

Hypersonic ground testing site at Purdue will be first of its kind in U.S.

Margaret Christopherson
Lafayette Journal & Courier

An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated that hypersonic speed warranted 3 times the speed of sound; this has been corrected to 5 times the speed of sound. The Journal & Courier regrets this error.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University continues to hit the throttle on its interest in aerospace and national security, as the university announced the construction of the first-of-its-kind U.S. facility to test hypersonic technologies.

Announcement of the Hypersonic Ground Test Center, in the Purdue Aerospace District adjacent to the West Lafayette campus, came during a two-day Hypersonics Summit hosted by Purdue and the National Defense Industrial Association.

"(Hypersonic) is flight in excess of about 5 times the speed of sound," Dr. Mark Lewis, executive director of the National Defense Industrial Association, said. "What can you do with hypersonics? Everything from new ways to get into space, to very fast flying airplanes but also weapons." 

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Purdue President Mitch Daniels told Monday's crowd, which included Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and U.S. Sen. Todd Young, that Purdue intends to fully endorse and help develop the defensive uses of hypersonic technology.

"We at Purdue have been fortunate to be in strong shape and we have completed recently a series of strategic initiatives launched a year ago," Daniels said. "No. 1 was a decision to invest very heavily in national security and national defense work. We asked ourselves the question, 'What kind (of security)?' The number one area where the Venn diagram overlapped the most clearly was hypersonics."

Purdue president Mitch Daniels speaks at an announcement for a Hypersonic Ground Test Facility to be located in the Purdue Aerospace District, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021 in West Lafayette.

The Hypersonic Ground Test Center will be a shared facility that will support multiple test cells and laboratories, according to a Purdue statement. The HGTC will be administered and supported by a group of national defense industry partners managing the facility's costs.

Rolls-Royce North America is the first industry member of this HGTC-group. Other industry partners and government entities are currently being recruited, according to Purdue's statement.

"Rolls-Royce has worked with Purdue for decades," said George McLaren, vice president of marketing and communications for Rolls-Royce, "for lots of different projects over the years.

"We have more Rolls-Royce engineers from Purdue than from any other university in the country. So we've had this great partnership for a long time and it made perfect sense with Purdue's and Rolls-Royce's expertise together."

Gov. Holcomb spoke about how the HGTC will benefit the state of Indiana.

Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks at an announcement for a Hypersonic Ground Test Facility to be located in the Purdue Aerospace District, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021 in West Lafayette.

"This facility seeks to create more partnerships," Holcomb said. "So this will be a center of excellence in emerging technology. And Purdue has obviously got the talent on campus doing this type of research. To be able to have the land and all the other details that got the equation in place and well received, it was a Purdue advantage."

Holcomb went on to say that he hopes Purdue students are interested in the potential job opportunities that the HGTC will provide. 

There is currently no set timeline for the completion of the HGTC.

Margaret Troup is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mtroup@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretTroup2