North Wind has broken ground on the Aerospace & Hypersonic Research and Testing Complex (AHRTC), a $1 billion-plus facility at UMore Park in Rosemount, Minnesota, that will support aerospace and hypersonic research and testing.

Ground testing gives engineers and decision-makers evidence ahead of costly flight tests. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that American hypersonic wind-tunnel infrastructure is ageing and cannot meet current demand, and it identified wind tunnels as essential for testing components and validating designs before flight. The AHRTC is intended to address that shortfall in ground-testing infrastructure.

Dr Artie Mabbett, CEO of North Wind, says: “Technology has never moved faster. Our ability to field these advancements needs to keep pace. Digital engineering has promised to accelerate aerospace design, but the integration of the physical and digital domains through AI-enabled technologies can truly unlock our national advantage in fielding overmatch capabilities. The North Wind AHRTC will help close that gap by integrating advanced testing infrastructure with AI-enabled digital ecosystems.”

George Rumford, director of the Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center, adds: “Advanced aerospace systems depend on rigorous ground testing to move from promising designs to proven capability. The AHRTC will provide the tools and test data needed to identify risks earlier, accelerate learning and advance technologies critical to U.S. national security.”

North Wind operates a wind-tunnel facility in Plymouth, Minnesota, and worked on the design of NASA's Flight Dynamics Research Facility at Langley Research Center, the agency's first major wind tunnel built in more than 40 years. Its work with the University of Minnesota links the AHRTC to hypersonic research, modelling and simulation. The project is funded through a public-private partnership combining federal and state support with private investment. North Wind completed its purchase of the 60-acre UMore Park site in December 2025.