Hermeus

Hermeus is a US aerospace company founded in 2018 by AJ Piplica, Zach Shore, Skyler Shuford, Glenn Case and Mike Smayda. The company is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, with a manufacturing presence in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was originally based.

Hermeus builds uncrewed, high-speed test aircraft under its Quarterhorse programme, an incremental series of prototypes intended to validate the technology needed for a reusable, Mach 5-class aircraft. The programme has been developed with US Air Force backing, including an AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory. The first aircraft, Quarterhorse Mk 1, flew subsonically in May 2025. Its successor, the Quarterhorse Mk 2.1, first flew in March 2026 and became the first privately developed unmanned aircraft to fly supersonically in May 2026.

Hermeus has raised funding from investors including Khosla Ventures and a Series B round led by Sam Altman, and describes its long-term goal as building the fastest aircraft in history for both defence and commercial high-speed travel.