YOU may not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that Ipswich is a great location for a startup but it helps. Now the city is soaring into space as it is playing host to the ‘’fastest engines in Ipswich”. And no, we don’t mean RAAF Amberley!
Aerospace start-up Hypersonix has moved into Carole Park and with their arrival further strengthened Ipswich’s defence supply chains.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said once again an innovative defence industry company had chosen to base itself here in Ipswich to be in the best position to take on the global space industry.
“Right now, more than 20% of Queensland’s defence workforce operates in Ipswich,” Mayor Harding said.
“Hypersonix will benefit from the established defence supply chain here in Ipswich that supports primes like TAE Aerospace, Northrop Grumann, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Thales.
“The defence industry continues to grow in Ipswich with more than 4,500 workers employed locally, a 16% yearly increase.
“That is an increase of about 600 jobs, which means employment pathways for residents and a stimulated local economy.”
Hypersonix is an aerospace engineering, design and build company that specialises in hypersonic technology and scramjet engines that are 3D-printed and have no moving parts.
Hypersonix chief executive officer Matt Hill thanked Mayor Harding for her support at the grand opening of their new facility.
“The team at Hypersonix is excited to be working at our new facility in Carole Park,” Mr Hill said.
“It is an exciting time for Hypersonix and it is a privilege to lead such an outstanding team.
“By every measure our grand opening was a big success, and it was such a pleasure to see the team celebrating our recent milestones”.
Hypersonix co-founder, CTO and head of engineering Michael Smart also acknowledged the exciting future for their company in Ipswich.
“We are excited to be part of the Ipswich community,” Mr Smart said.
“The move to our new facility in Carole Park rings in the next stage on our journey to commercialising our technology. We have doubled our engineering team in the last year and are still growing.
“We are all hands on deck preparing for our first launch next year.”
“About 65% of exports in South East Queensland in the defence industry come out of Ipswich and with Hypersonix recently winning a US government contract to develop a high-speed aircraft to test its hypersonic technologies, they will be adding to this growth in coming years,” Mayor Harding said.
