Hermeus shifts work to El Segundo
Hypersonic developer Hermeus is moving executive offices and prototyping activities to El Segundo to access Southern California aerodynamic and aerospace talent. Social reporting framed the change as a pull into the SoCal cluster that includes large primes and test facilities. (x.com)
Hermeus is moving its headquarters from Atlanta to El Segundo and shifting prototype work to Southern California. (hermeus.com) The company said April 7 that its new El Segundo base will expand its prototyping footprint, while its Atlanta site transitions toward production. Hermeus announced the move alongside a $350 million Series C round that valued the company at $1 billion. (hermeus.com) Hermeus will place executive offices and prototype-development space in 67,000 square feet across two buildings at 888 North Douglas Street in El Segundo. Production will remain in Atlanta, and the company told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the shift involves no layoffs for its 175-person Georgia workforce. (connectcre.com) (ajc.com) Hypersonic aircraft fly at Mach 5 or faster, or at least five times the speed of sound, and Hermeus is building unmanned aircraft in steps rather than trying to jump straight to that speed. Its Quarterhorse program uses a series of test aircraft to solve one problem at a time, from takeoff and landing to higher-speed flight. (connectcre.com) (hermeus.com) That test schedule has accelerated in the past year. Hermeus unveiled Quarterhorse Mk 1 in March 2024, and its larger Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 made a first flight at Spaceport America in February 2026. (hermeus.com 1) (hermeus.com 2) Chief executive AJ Piplica told the Los Angeles Times the move was driven by hiring needs, saying Georgia’s aerospace base is stronger in large-scale manufacturing while prototyping requires different engineering skills. A Hermeus spokesperson told L.A. Business First that El Segundo offers a specialized talent pool and prototype infrastructure the company could not find elsewhere. (ajc.com) (connectcre.com) El Segundo has become one of the busiest aerospace and defense corridors in the Los Angeles region, with startups clustering near larger contractors, suppliers, and test infrastructure in the South Bay. Local reporting said Hermeus expects to staff more than 200 employees there by mid-2027. (latimes.com) (bizjournals.com) Atlanta still remains central to the company’s buildout. Hermeus bought a 110,000-square-foot factory near Doraville in 2021, and the Air Force awarded the startup a $60 million contract that year to support flight testing of its first Quarterhorse aircraft. (ajc.com) (aflcmc.af.mil) The split now is straightforward: executives and prototype teams in El Segundo, production in Atlanta, and a larger fleet of Quarterhorse aircraft in development after the new funding round. (hermeus.com)
