Aevum Inc., a Huntsville, Ala. company, has been awarded a $4.9 million contract from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to launch small satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) from Cecil Spaceport.

The Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON) 45 space lift mission will support the Department of Defense Space Test Program and other government agencies.

This will be the first Air Force mission for Aevum. The initial launch is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021. As a result, Aevum will be opening and expanding its operational facility in Jacksonville.

Cecil is one of the few commercial horizontal liftoff spaceports licensed by the Federal Aviation Authority in the U.S. Aevum is the second company to enter into an operating agreement with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority.