Voyager Space said Monday that Lockheed Martin
[LMT] chose it to help deliver a solid-propulsion subsystem to the company’s Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
Voyager is specifically set to provide the Rolls Control System on NGI, which includes thrust and control algorithms to allow precise control of vehicle orientation and a stage separation propulsion system.
The company said it will lead this subsystem through design, development and manufacturing before delivering production-ready subsystems that are flight qualified ahead of the MDA delivery requirement.
Lockheed Martin told Defense Daily in a statement it awarded this contract in 2022.
Voyager plans to build the subsystem at its propulsion manufacturing facility in Reno, Nev.
“We are proud to be recognized by the Missile Defense Agency and be given the opportunity to provide our cutting-edge technology to Lockheed Martin for a mission of the highest importance defending and protecting our great country,” said Mike O’Brien, president of Voyager Defense Systems, said in a statement.
The company explained it specialized in solid-propulsion technology that regulates use of solid propellant to achieve required precision and long-duration operation. It developed this technology under a series of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts from the MDA and the Air Force (USAF).
Lockheed Martin is Voyager’s commercialization and technology transition partner.
The company said derivations of its technology are also under development for future application to the Air Force, Army and Navy via other SBIR contracts.
MDA selected Lockheed Martin to finish developing NGI in April over its competitor, Northrop Grumman [NOC] (Defense Daily, April 14).
In 2020 Lockheed Martin originally said its NGI team includes Aerojet Rocketdyne [AJRD] to power the primary propulsion system on NGI (Defense Daily, Oct. 16, 2020).
MDA had previously said it planned to keep the competition active through the Critical Design Review (CDR) in an effort to improve maturation and allow the option of a second production line.
In April MDA Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said there was a change of plans to move from technology development to product development caused by both funding pressure from the Fiscal Responsibility Act as well as solid technical developments in both teams (Defense Daily, April 12).
Last year, Lockheed Martin said it planned to reach CDR by the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Defense Daily, Oct. 16, 2023).
MDA plans to start fielding the first of at least 20 planned NGIs as soon as 2028.
NGI is MDA’s next interceptor meant to provide improved performance for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system to defend against North Korean missiles, upgrading from the current Ground-Based Interceptors. The first group of 20 missiles will fill a missile field of 20 silos previously built at Fort Greely, Alaska.