STTR Phase II Research Contract Brings Innovation to Hypersonic Industry
ATLANTA, GA (July 13, 2023) – Atomic-6, a composite manufacturing company, has been awarded their fourth Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract valued at $1.25 million. This was achieved in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute) to develop innovative manufacturing processes and sustainment technologies that rapidly produce and sustain weapon systems for our United States Air Force. This Phase II contract follows a successful completion of Atomic-6’s Phase I award for Hypersonics on June 5, 2022.
Delivering hypersonic weapons is one of the DoD's highest priorities. Hypersonic weapons, capable of flying at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), are highly maneuverable and operate at varying altitudes. The DoD is committed to working in collaboration with industry, government national laboratories, and academia to field hypersonic warfighting capability in the early-to mid-2020s.
Atomic-6’s Technical Point of Contact for the project, Paul Petkevicius, DR-03 USAF Air Force Material Command, AFRL-Structural Systems Manufacturing Branch (RXMS), Tactical Boost Glide Lead, said “AFRL-RXMS has a high interest in Atomic-6’s STTR Phase II submission to develop and demonstrate higher performing hypersonic thermal protection systems with scaled production through its proprietary advanced manufacturing process. We are interested in seeing if Atomic-6’s unique manufacturing processes and capabilities are a viable thermal protection system alternative for current and/or next generation hypersonic systems. There is a strong need to increase the current supply base to address current production capacity limitations and cost challenges.”
"Following our company’s successful completion of the Phase I Hypersonics award in 2022, our sights are now set on conquering the Phase II project alongside our esteemed partners at Georgia Tech and AFRL. I am excited to see how Atomic-6 can continue breaking conventional manufacturing methods in Hypersonics and advance the DoD’s unique needs. Our CTO, Peter Shpik, previously worked on the Rockwell X-30 National Aero-Space Plane and is one of the select few in our country that has a deep understanding of what it truly takes to produce advanced composite structures for Hypersonic systems. Together with our partners, we will continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the composites industry!"
University partners Dr. Chuck Zhang and Jarod Weber said, “At GTMI, we are always grateful for opportunities to tackle use-inspired engineering challenges related to advanced materials and manufacturing. As a composites and hybrid materials research group, we serve our aerospace and defense industry partners by leveraging our interdisciplinary team of faculty, research engineers, students, and state- of-the-art facilities to overcome manufacturing and related technology hurdles. We look forward to working with Atomic-6 and the US Air Force to advance manufacturing of hypersonic composite materials via advanced process control, machine learning, and precision testing techniques.”
GTMI is one of Georgia Tech’s ten interdisciplinary research institutes and part of the broader Georgia Tech research enterprise. It is GTMI's mission to convene industry leaders, government partners and top researchers to collaborate on the grand challenges facing the U.S. manufacturing industry today. That mission is to accelerate technology development and deployment, create quality jobs, ensure global competitiveness, and advance economic and environmental stability.
Prior to the award, Atomic-6 received Letters of Support for this STTR Phase II program development from AFRL/RXMS, Former USAF Acting Secretary/Acting Under Secretary/Senior Assistant Secretary of the Air Force – Honorable Tidal McCoy, Air & Space Force Association-Executive Vice President – USAF Maj Gen (ret) Doug Raaberg, Beyond Gravity, Creative Destruction Lab, Hermeus, Launcher Space, Teledyne Brown Engineering, and Carbon-Carbon Advanced Technologies (C-CAT) who stated, “The US's shift towards maintaining strategic and tactical advantage over our advisories has made the strategic importance of hypersonic aircraft, vehicles, and weapons more critical. Atomic-6's and C-CAT's capabilities advance the Air Force, Space Force, and DoD ability to field hypersonic platforms so the U.S. can maintain and advance space superiority to be prepared for potential conflict.”
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,500 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.
About Atomic-6
At Atomic-6, we leverage a proprietary manufacturing process that optimizes fiber-to-resin ratios, significantly reduces porosity, and expedites production cycle times. This process is not limited to a single type of fiber or resin; it extends across a broad spectrum of available materials. What sets us apart is our capability to custom-engineer not just the material systems but also the tooling and processing methods, tailored specifically to the multifaceted requirements of the space, aeronautics, hypersonics, and armor industries. By doing so, we can meet the unique and often complex demands of our customers, offering a level of customization that goes beyond typical industry standards.
Media Inquiries:
Atomic-6, Inc.
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