GE Aerospace has disclosed substantial funding enhancements to its testing facilities, aimed at expediting the development of advanced hypersonic propulsion technologies.
The upgrades at facilities in Evendale, Ohio; Bohemia, New York; and Niskayuna, New York, will support the company in performing tests at higher Mach levels that are pertinent to actual missions, surpassing prior capabilities in scale.
The Evendale facility will undergo modifications to support testing for larger hypersonic propulsion systems than was previously achievable. These changes will facilitate testing at elevated Mach numbers, more accurately simulating real flight conditions.
Following the 2022 acquisition of Innoveering, a hypersonic technologies company, GE Aerospace has been improving the test cell capabilities at the Bohemia site.
Additionally, the company's research centre in Niskayuna is expanding its capacity to test hypersonic systems. The investment aims to enable the assessment of more substantial propulsion systems and the refinement of various emerging hypersonic propulsion technologies.
GE Aerospace Edison Works Advanced Programs vice president & general manager Mark Rettig said: “This investment significantly accelerates GE Aerospace’s ability to meet future hypersonic propulsion needs. By enhancing our infrastructure, we’re not only enabling more representative and scalable testing but also demonstrating our ability to deliver advanced technologies faster and more efficiently, ensuring our customers have the cutting-edge solutions they need when they need them.”
The test infrastructure expansion follows GE Aerospace's rapid development and testing achievements, including a hypersonic dual-mode ramjet that progressed from concept to testing in under 11 months and a liquid-fuelled ramjet tested just ten months after initial concept definition.
In January 2025, GE Aerospace hypersonics general manager Dean Modroukas said the forthcoming phase of development is essential for the eventual airborne application of ramjet technology. Engineers will begin by adjusting the advanced controls within their systems and integrating materials used in GE Aerospace's jet engine offerings.
“We’ll be scaling up what we’ve done over the past 18 months and start to integrate [these building blocks] into a full propulsion system” this year, said Modroukas.
In March 2025, GE Aerospace was awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract by the US Air Force, potentially worth $5bn, for the provision of F110-GE-129 engines.
