The Dawn of Solid Rocket Motor Diversification

U.S. lawmakers have been fretting since 2018 (when Northrop Grumman bought Orbital ATK) that the national supply base for solid rocket motors was becoming too concentrated. Those concerns torpedoed Lockheed Martin’s attempted acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne last year and raised hackles on Capital Hill when L3Harris jumped in to play white knight.

The U.S. government has expressed concern that limited competition could stifle innovation and raise prices for solid rocket motors used in missiles, rocket, and space launch. The industry is apparently listening, as evidenced by the groundswell of solid rocket development efforts currently underway, including:

• Lockheed Martin, spurned by regulators’ dismissal of its attempt at buying Aerojet, says it’s in late-stage negotiations to create a “third source” of solid rocket motors. Lockheed’s ambitions have centered chiefly around defense applications like its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), but as a veteran space company, Lockheed could easily push into the booster business for launch vehicles. NASA’s Space Launch System and ULA’s Vulcan rely on booster tech from Northrop and L3Harris. Meanwhile, Lockheed is an investor in Rocket Lab and ABL Space Systems. Who's to say Lockheed couldn’t become a supplier to other launch companies? 

• Ursa Major Technologies is best known for its work creating liquid propulsion systems, but the company is currently seeking to hire a solid rocket motor engineer. It’s a natural expansion for the company, which has increasingly sought hypersonics and defense business alongside its core space focus. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the company announce a solid rocket motor product in the next 12 months.

• X-Bow Systems, which traces its roots to the ORS-4 program and the now-defunct Super Strypi (solid) launch vehicle, has recently emerged as a contender in the solid rocket motor (SRM) business, supported by a $64M DoD hypersonics contract and a new high-volume manufacturing facility in Luling, Texas. X-Bow is currently targeting the missile and rocket market dominated by L3Harris and Northrop, but the company may eventually pivot back to the launch market. Then again, the DoD needs a lot of Javelins, Stingers, GMLRS, and Standard missiles nowadays. 

• Anduril, the hard-charging defense startup hellbent on keeping incumbent defense contractors up at night, purchased Adranos, a small supplier of solid rocket motors, in June. Next up is scaling Adranos and “going after everything” the DoD asks for in that market. Anduril founder Palmer Luckey has space on his list of target markets, first with software, later with hardware.

• Kratos teamed with Australian startup Hypersonix to bring its solid rocket tech to the U.S. While the first application is hypersonic platforms, orbital and suborbital space transport are also on the drawing board.

• And, honorable mention to Firehawk Aerospace, which is creating hybrid rocket engines (these sit right in the middle between solid and liquid-fueled motors). Raytheon backed the company last year with an investment of undisclosed size, giving it a path to scale in defense and space programs.

Left off this list are the various firms that have received Small Business Innovation Research grants for solid rocket technologies. Not all of them will become scaled products, but NASA and the DoD have seeded the field for even more companies to grow. And, even though the main focus of the solid rocket push is defense, these assets are well understood as dual use. The proliferation of solid rocket companies could shape the domestic launch landscape, especially as small launch startups seek to increase their payload capacity.

SOURCE: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2023/10/how-x-bow-plans-break-northrop-aerojet-duopoly-rocket-motor-production/391492/