Voyager scales solid rocket motor production with quality and agility
The demand for tactical solid rocket motors (SRMs) is outpacing domestic production capacity. These storable, instantly deployable energetics power missile defense systems, tactical weapons and rapid-response munitions, and the Department of War needs them in greater volume.
SRMs are, at their core, a simple proposition. The fuel and oxidizer are bound together in a pressure vessel with a single exit point through the nozzle. Add a spark and the reaction is instantaneous. SRMs can be manufactured, placed in storage and remain mission ready for 10 to 20 years. SRMs are strategically essential because of their ability to be stockpiled and closing the production gap is a national security imperative.
“We have a unique integration of expertise across Voyager, bringing together propulsion and defense systems that can deliver on the nation’s most demanding programs,” said Matt Magaña, president, Space, Defense and National Security, Voyager. “At the same time, our commercial approach keeps us agile. We’re operating under decades of mission-proven experience, while still innovating and moving at the speed national defense requires.”
It Starts with Quality
Making an SRM requires precision. The oxidizer, typically ammonium perchlorate, and the fuel are combined with a liquid rubber binder and a suite of additives in a large mixer that operates under vacuum to eliminate air bubbles. Last, a curative is added. The heat of a cure oven triggers a chemical reaction in the curative that solidifies the mixture.
The quality of the final product is won or lost in the chemistry that precedes and runs through each of those steps. This is why some of the earliest Voyagers on the SRM team were chemists and chemical engineers. An in-house chemistry lab handles raw material testing and in-process quality checks. Even the base ingredients are processed in-house to allow for total control of propellant performance. For one complex propellant the company makes, 84 separate quality tests must be completed on the raw materials before production can even begin.
During mixing, samples are pulled and tested for multiple properties to identify how the propellant is behaving and predict how it will perform. Before casting, additional samples are cured and tested for mechanical properties like tensile strength, elongation and burn rate. The goal is to catch variability before it can become a problem and correct for it.
Speed to Lead
Quality is what allows for speed.
Voyager’s commercial model is primarily built around a semi-custom approach that bridges the gap between off-the-shelf motors and fully custom solutions. The company utilizes a standardized library of verified, mission-proven propellants while also having the engineering depth to adapt them to a customer’s specific performance requirements. Small prototype motors have been delivered, from contract to test fire, in as few as three weeks. More complex motors have been completed and test fired in roughly 180 days.
“What differentiates Voyager is our library of proven propellant formulations that allows us to deliver without betting the program on unproven chemistry,” said Karl Kulling, general manager, Voyager Energetics. “We have the capability to innovate on the core chemistry when the mission demands it, but our default is to eliminate unnecessary risk and focus our innovation where it matters most: the manufacturing process.”
The Voyager American Defense Complex in Pueblo, Colorado, is the next phase of that innovation. The 150,000 sq. ft. facility is a clean-sheet build, purpose-designed around the throughput and safety demands of modern SRM production. Automation will handle steps in the process that previously required personnel to be in close proximity to dangerous energetic materials. The space will also allow the workforce to expand, which will mean more people working together to scale production for national defense.
“For the rapid reindustrialization the Pentagon wants, solid rocket motor capabilities must be built and qualified in the U.S.” said Kulling. “We have the certification, rigorous safety oversight and the strategic capacity to meet the moment’s urgency and deliver for national defense.”