North Wind Finalizes Land Purchase for Minnesota Aerospace Complex in Rosemount

St. Paul, MN – December 12, 2025 – North Wind, a leading independent supplier of aerospace test infrastructure, systems and services, announced today it has secured the land for the Minnesota Aerospace Complex (MAC) — a new $1 billion state-of-the-art independent aerospace and hypersonic research and testing facility, and the most advanced ground testing center in the U.S. The MAC will be built on a 60-acre section of long-unused, polluted land at UMore Park in Rosemount, Minn. 

North Wind recently finalized the purchase of the MAC site for $8.1 million. The land purchase and MAC site development was made possible with funds appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 and awarded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) Minnesota Forward Fund this October. When fully operational in 2030, the MAC will feature nearly 250,000 square feet of space for wind tunnels, engineering facilities, offices, heating and cooling, maintenance, and storage. In addition, the University of Minnesota will partner with North Wind to operate a 60,000 square foot advanced engineering facility on the MAC site. 

Arthur Mabbett, CEO of North Wind, commented: "Purchasing this land marks an important step forward in the development of the MAC. While essential cleanup of the site remains before construction can begin, each step moves us closer to the reality of transforming this site into the most advanced aerospace testing facility in the country.” Jeff Weisensel, Mayor of the City of Rosemount, shared: “I’m pleased to see this project advancing. For decades, UMore Park land has sat vacant, limited by the need for environmental clean-up. With North Wind’s plans to remediate the site and develop the MAC here, we will address a long-standing environmental challenge, put the land back to productive use, generate new tax revenue for our community, and bring innovation back to Rosemount.”

North Wind and University of Minnesota Receive Initial Contract 

In addition to finalizing the land purchase, North Wind also has been awarded a $98.5 million Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) by the Army Contracting Command – Orlando (ACC-ORL) through the Training and Readiness Accelerator II (TReX II) OTA consortium. In connection, the University of Minnesota, a leader in the modeling and simulation of hypersonic flows, was awarded a $10.3 million contract by ACC-ORL. These awards will support the phased development of the MAC. 

The contracts are sponsored and funded by the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW) Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), which will manage the two efforts as part of its mission to ensure the readiness of our Nation to conduct experimentation and testing. The MAC advances TRMC’s objective to expand and modernize the Nation’s hypersonic test infrastructure. Once completed, the MAC will help our Nation accelerate the development of hypersonic vehicles critical to modernizing the military. George Rumford, Director of the TRMC and OSW Senior Advisor, stated: “The Minnesota Aerospace Complex will accelerate our Nation’s hypersonic development with critical infrastructure and innovative capabilities for testing key aspects of hypersonic vehicle performance on the ground. The MAC will also provide research and risk reduction opportunities that support the Department’s ‘whole-of-Nation’ approach to hypersonic advancement.” 

Mabbett commented: “We are honored to receive this mandate from the U.S. government to develop a dedicated complex focused on advancing our Nation’s hypersonics ground testing, modeling and simulation capabilities, while increasing test and evaluation throughput. This award represents a significant milestone in North Wind’s mission to accelerate the future of flight, and we look forward to working alongside the University of Minnesota to deliver this critical national priority.” 

The multi-phase project will leverage new and existing facility components to stand up a prototype capability equipped with novel technologies for large-scale testing of hypersonic systems, including the capability to develop propulsion systems in an environment that recreates hypersonic flight conditions on the ground. The MAC – with its integration of leading-edge tools and approaches for ground-based testing, modeling and simulation, and analysis – will seek to significantly shorten the cycles to develop and place into service new hypersonic systems and flight vehicles. Initial operations of the MAC will be in support of TRMC projects, but the facility will also enable future development of commercial hypersonic flight systems.

North Wind and the University of Minnesota have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that will enable the application of the University of Minnesota’s computational and research capabilities into the MAC. The University of Minnesota’s Computational Hypersonics Research Laboratory is at the forefront of the research and development of next-generation simulation methods to advance the field of hypersonic flight. 

Dr. Shashank Priya, Founding Executive Director of the National Security Research Institute at the University of Minnesota, added: “We are truly excited to elevate our strong partnership with North Wind through this pivotal project. This collaboration underscores the essential role the University of Minnesota’s research enterprise plays in strengthening our Nation’s dual-use hypersonics capabilities and in cultivating a vibrant aerospace community across the State of Minnesota. Dual-use hypersonic technologies are foundational to our national security mission—advancing our ability to deter emerging threats while enabling scientific and engineering breakthroughs that benefit society at large. These innovations accelerate progress in materials, propulsion, and sensing technologies that can transform civilian transportation, enhance disaster response and environmental monitoring, and fuel the next generation of high-impact industries. Together, we are helping to ensure a safer Nation and a more resilient, innovative future for all.”

About North Wind 

North Wind is a leading independent supplier of complex hypersonic and Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) systems and services. Leveraging decades of specialized experience, North Wind delivers hypersonic and RDT&E capabilities through five complementary business segments: Applied R&D; Test Articles and Critical System Components; Test Facility Design & Build; Test Services; Flight Testing & Flight Systems. The Company’s offerings span the full life cycle of aerospace & defense and commercial systems, including end-toend turnkey solutions. North Wind currently operates wind tunnel facilities in Plymouth, Minn., and Langley, Va. Learn more at www.north-wind.com. 

Contact: Info@north-wind.com