Draper is adding an extra floor of office and laboratory space to its future Strategic Enhanced Ground Test Facility, slated for construction near the intersection of U.S.1 and State Road 405 in Titusville, said Robert Bacon, the company's vice president of Navy strategic systems.
Construction equipment should arrive on site this week for the $60 million facility, which is expected to be fully operational in June 2028.
The centerpiece of the facility will be a huge, spinning 32-foot-long centrifuge, which will generate powerful G-forces to test guidance systems for Navy submarine ballistic missiles, among other programs.
"The nation is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation recapitalization of our strategic triad: the bombers, the ICBMs and something that's very close to the work that we do — the submarine-launched ballistic missiles," Bacon said.
"The centrifuge testing facility really is going to be at the core of the testing aspects of that major modernization. So that's why we have this sense of urgency to get this in place," he said.
As the Navy’s strategic guidance prime contractor, Draper has designed and supported guidance systems for every fleet ballistic missile deployed since the program's 1955 debut, a company press release said.
Last October, Draper announced a $2.2 billion contract to continue supporting the Navy's Trident II D5 missile system, while also beginning development on the weapon's next generation.
A Titusville groundbreaking ceremony took place last August. Since then, Bacon said Draper increased the planned square footage from 36,000 to roughly 50,000. Accordingly, the project price tag escalated from $50 million to $60 million.
"At buildout, the proposed facility will employ over 140 full-time engineers, technicians and administrative staff. This is a new Florida facility and these employees will be new positions in the City of Titusville," Draper CEO and President Jerry Wohletz said in a March letter to Mayor Dan Diesel.
"The SEGT will support the US Navy, defense contractors and space industry companies providing highly technical testing facilities that currently don't exist on the Space Coast," Wohletz said.
Bacon said about 30 employees with Draper and supporting partners are working now on the Space Coast. He said major construction should be completed by June 2026. Afterward, engineers will take about a year installing and calibrating high-tech centrifuge equipment. After additional equipment is installed and an initial testing "shakeout period" wraps up, the facility should become fully operational about June 2028.
"Our focus is largely on supporting the Navy's effort with their (Trident II) D5 life extension program. But in addition to that, the world continues to be a highly dynamic place. And as we look forward to the future environment, we continue to push the bounds of new capabilities and technologies. And having the ability to quickly prototype them and test them is something that we've done for for decades," Bacon said.
Elsewhere in Florida, Draper operates campuses in St. Petersburg and Cape Canaveral. North American Properties is the Titusville project's development manager. More than 500 sheets of design plans should be submitted this week at Titusville City Hall, said Shawn McIntyre, managing partner.
McIntyre said NAP owns about 30 acres surrounding the Draper construction site, and undisclosed aerospace companies have expressed interest in building there. NAP is also building a 100,000-square-foot warehouse-light industrial facility on 12 acres near Space Coast Regional Airport, with hopes of opening for a future tenant this upcoming spring.
How will Draper technicians use the spinning centrifuge? For example, Bacon said the machine will contribute to a number of complementary tests designed to simulate a Trident missile flight. Draper also operates an F-15 Eagle fighter jet at Cape Canaveral that sports a pod beneath its wing.
"We basically put a guidance system underneath the wing of an F-15 and fly that F-15 to mimic that ballistic missile acceleration profile. Similarly, the centrifuge is really tuned to a very similar acceleration profile — but the centrifuge also gives us some precision measurement capability. So we can really get a very fine assessment of the performance of our systems in those environments," Bacon said.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space .
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