Supersonic aircraft company Aerion has finalised an agreement with Haskell, an integrated design, engineering and construction firms, as the design-build lead for the development of Aerion Park. The new campus will form Aerion's global headquarters and will home production of the AS2 business jet from 2023.

“Aerion Park represents the future of sustainable supersonic flight, right here in Melbourne, Florida,” says Tom Vice, Aerion's chairman, president and CEO. “The Park will be home to innovation, cutting-edge aircraft construction and the most environmentally sustainable facility of its type anywhere in the world. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Haskell over the years ahead to realise our vision and bring a new, sustainable means of supersonic flight to reality in a truly integrated campus that is Aerion Park, a home that our team and the local community can be very proud of.”

Aerion Park will be located on more than 110 acres of the Orlando Melbourne International airport campus and among a growing cluster of aerospace and technology companies on Florida's Space Coast. The Park will incorporate the company's new global headquarters plus an integrated campus for research, design, production and interior completions of the company's AS2 supersonic business jet and future derivative aircraft.

“We've been working with Aerion for several years on the mission to create this transformative product, and we couldn't possibly be more aligned on the objectives of sustainability and the application of so many new technologies in facilities, manufacturing and transportation,” explains Paul Raudenbush, senior VP of planning and development for Haskell's infrastructure and transportation delivery group. “This site will incorporate more sophisticated requirements than any site recently developed, so it's perfectly located in Florida's Space Coast region.

Just as the AS2 private jet seeks to deliver carbon neutral flight, the home in which it will be created aims to be the most environmentally sustainable of its kind in the aerospace sector. Aerion Park is planned to be powered by clean energy, using the very latest in photovoltaic solar technology to generate energy for manufacturing. On-site electric vehicle charging stations will also be installed and rainwater that lands on the campus reused. Recycled materials will be used in the construction of Aerion Park wherever possible, sourced locally to minimise emissions and the Park will be dedicated to creating zero waste.

Aerion has already established a temporary office location on the Orlando Melbourne International airport campus to house a growing Florida-based employment base. Work on the new Park is underway, with major construction work commencing later this year ahead of the first AS2 aircraft flight test vehicle commencing production in 2023. Aerion plans to deliver 300 aircraft over ten years of production, supported by a growing domestic and international order backlog which now tops $7 billion.