Anika Begay
Hennessey Special Vehicles crashed its $3 million Venom F5 hypercar at nearly 250 miles per hour on Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) runway in July. Newly reported details show the cost of the crash, which occurred while the company was testing new components for the car.
The accident damaged the runway surface, according to accident documents obtained by ClickOrlando. The damage was apparently minimal, and the repair, plus subsequent cleanup of hazardous materials, cost $712.70, billed to Space Coast Testing, the company that manages the runway rentals. Renting the LLF, which once served as a landing pad for NASA’s Space Shuttle and serves aerospace purposes such as the delivery of United Launch Alliance rocket stages, can cost $2,200 for a four-hour period, ClickOrlando reported. It is unclear whether this is the same rate paid by Hennessey.
Hennessey was testing “an experimental new aerodynamic setup” when it “lost downforce on the track, causing the driver to lose control,” founder John Hennessey wrote on Hennessey’s Instagram account after the crash. The driver was uninjured, and the company said it was investigating the cause. The test was part of Hennessey’s push toward a 300-mph attempt with the car as it chases the record for fastest production car.
The documents that ClickOrlando revised were heavily censored, so no photos of the incident appear to be available. According to the outlet, this was done to protect Hennessey’s trade secrets.
The LLF is operated by Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency. Other organizations that have used it include Amazon (for Project Kuiper), United Launch Alliance, and Lockheed Martin, according to Space Florida’s website. But the LLF’s flat, 3-mile straight stretch is also used by auto companies, including Tesla and Volvo, for real-world performance and aerodynamic testing of their cars.
Alayna Curry, director of public relations for Space Florida, said ClickOrlando that such tests “are not new and have been taking place for many years, dating back to the Space Shuttle era under NASA management,” and that Space Florida regularly rejects requests to lease the runway.
