Hermeus Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 Soars High, Aiming for Supersonic Record
Atlanta-based aerospace startup, Hermeus, marked a significant milestone with the successful completion of the first flight of its Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 supersonic demonstrator on March 2, 2026. The flight took place at Spaceport America in New Mexico, making it the company’s second inaugural flight in less than nine months.
The remotely-piloted aircraft, comparable in size to an F-16 fighter jet, signifies a substantial leap towards the company’s ambitious objective of breaking the SR-71 Blackbird’s air-breathing speed record of Mach 3.32. The Mk 2.1 is nearly three times larger, four times heavier, and significantly faster than its predecessor, the Mk 1, which first took to the skies in May 2025.
“Speed is the fundamental requirement for our flight systems and for our company,” said AJ Piplica, CEO and Founder of Hermeus. “We’re building and flying aircraft on timelines that match the urgency of the world we’re in.”
The aircraft is powered by a modified Pratt & Whitney F100 engine and features a delta-wing configuration optimized for supersonic flight. Hermeus is following a rapid, iterative development strategy, with the Mk 2.2 expected to become the world’s fastest unmanned aircraft. The company’s ultimate goal is to achieve Mach 5 speeds with the Mk 3 variant, enabling travel between New York and London in approximately 90 minutes.
The successful flight validates Hermeus’ approach of compressing traditional decades-long development timelines into a single development cycle through continuous hardware iteration and real flight data collection.
Source: PR Newswire