Fast where it’s safe, rigorous where it’s essential
With the world growing more uneasy and demand for our ability to protect the homeland at an all-time high, the nation needs affordable solid rocket motors (SRMs). Voyager is playing in that space, and here’s how.
Historically, the demand for SRMs has been cyclical, making it difficult for industry to confidently invest in the kind of SRM stockpiles that the defense industrial base is now calling for. And a recent report by CSIS noted supply chain opacity and risks as another challenge to ramping up production of SRMs. While automation has helped to scale output somewhat, the larger challenges remain.
The stakes are high. The 2026 National Defense Strategy states that national security depends on the defense industrial base’s ability to produce, deliver and sustain critical munitions. Under these conditions, the companies that win are those that can extract the most capability from the circumstances as they exist today. That is what Voyager seeks to deliver — mission-ready systems that protect today and make tomorrow possible.
“National security can’t depend on one single company or a single point of failure,” said Matt Magaña, president of Space, Defense & National Security, Voyager. “We’re delivering SRMs that perform and building the network and capacity to continue delivering propulsion at the pace the mission demands.”
Innovating on Process
One key constraint in the SRM market is the high development and manufacturing costs. Startups could move quickly to fill gaps in the supply chain, but production expenses brought on by advanced materials, rigorous testing protocols and the high qualification requirements set by the Department of Defense can pose challenges for these smaller firms. On the other end of the spectrum, fully custom SRMs by larger firms can meet all of the requirements, but they take longer to build and can be significantly more expensive.
Voyager’s semi-custom model falls into the space between startups and primes. A complete suite of SRM capabilities from design and development to production and testing enables the company to adapt existing motors to create new systems that fit a customer’s specific needs, but faster and at a lower price point. In the past year, the process resulted in a customer being on site for a test-fire demonstration within three weeks of issuing an RFP. Another customer requested a much more complex motor, but Voyager still test fired within 180 days.
“In the tactical rocket motor space, the name of the game is speed and capacity,” said Karl Kulling, general manager, Voyager Energetics. “We can innovate on the core chemistry when required, but we’d rather invest in things like automating the process to increase safety and having a robust chemistry capability to solve fundamental challenges in solid propellant, such variability in raw materials — areas where the benefit to the customer outweighs any potential risks.”
Scaling Where it Counts
There are areas of SRM development where speed can lead to a loss of safety or quality. The curing process, for instance, can be accelerated slightly with temperature changes or alternative technologies, but there’s a risk of cracking or deformation. And time-consuming processes like post-assembly inspection could always be done faster, but at a loss of quality assurance and performance. In both cases, the trade-off is not acceptable.
In the areas where improvements can be made, Voyager has collaborative research and development partnerships with leading universities and industry partners to improve processes. Through innovative design, novel materials and next-generation manufacturing processes, Voyager and partners are looking to advance SRM technology in ways that don’t compromise the final product.
Recently Voyager announced a strategic partnership with Anduril. The companies are already collaborating across multiple strategic weapons programs, but this new partnership places a shared focus on manufacturing as these programs progress toward long-term, high-rate production.
Voyager is already increasing production capacity with a facility in Long Beach where engineering and development teams can be close to leading companies to encourage the kind of industry partnerships that will rebuild a strong defense industrial base. In Pueblo, Colo., Voyager’s American Defense Complex is scaling the advanced delivery of SRMs.
Voyager is meeting the need for SRMs with rigor where it’s essential, speed where safe and capacity built to respond to long-term needs. That’s what it means to accelerate the advantage.