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Space & Defense Technologies

Cecil Spaceport One Step Closer to Space with Test Launch

Jacksonville is home to Cecil Spaceport, the only spaceport approved for horizontal launch on the East Coast. Today, the spaceport was the site of the first-of-its-kind functional liquid rocket prototype engine test for the GOLauncher1 (GO1) hypersonic flight test booster as reported by Jacksonville Business Journal. The rocket was designed by Atlanta-based Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc.

The GO1 single-stage liquid rocket was developed to be an affordable and flexible hypersonic testbed to flight test a wide range of hypersonic vehicle technologies. Tests for the GO1 and Ursa Major Technologies’ “Hadley” liquid rocket engine, which was also tested at Cecil, performed as expected.

Cecil Spaceport Director Todd Lindner called the tests “a milestone for Cecil Spaceport and demonstrates the validity and capabilities of the Cecil facilities and Generation Orbit.”

GO CEO AJ Piplica agreed by saying, “completing this campaign at Cecil Spaceport also demonstrates the readiness of the facility to support near-term launch operations.”

The first flight of GO1 is planned for late 2019. Cecil Spaceport is planning its first commercial flight launch with a satellite payload from later this year or in early 2019.