Sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and US Army Space and Missile Defense Command and with further support from Redwire, New Mexico Tech, DARPA, and Air Force Research Labs, this mission represents a new era of options for both commercial and defense contractors in SRM manufacturing. X-Bow's innovative 'digital-twin' technology and modular SRM production allow customers to tailor SRM performance to specific mission needs, providing unmatched flexibility compared to traditional single-point designs. This capability positions X-Bow as a leader in an industry where capacity and development constraints often limit new entrants.

Following the increase, X-Bow hosted Ms. Adele Ratcliff, Director of the DoD's Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) Office, at our expanding Texas campus on December 3, 2024. Ms. Ratcliff leads the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program, crucial for fortifying the U.S. defense industry and fostering emerging sectors like advanced manufacturing to ensure rapid response to national security needs.

Ms. Ratcliff stated, "It is a national imperative that DoD seek new and rapid alternative sources of solid rocket motor production that provide the Department's decisions makers options that not only meet DoD's operational needs but bring capabilities and capacity to bear that grow the defense industrial base (DIB). X-Bow is a critical partner in the DIB ecosystem that aims to provide technical overmatch in the Hypersonics domain."

X-Bow is working several OTA efforts as a key partner to NSWC IHD focused on modernizing and automating key facilities and capabilities related to SRM production. As part of the U.S. Navy's $2.7 billion 15-year modernization plan for NSWC IHD (a piece of the Department of Defense's national defense strategy), this work will help unlock, expand and modernize the nation's energetics manufacturing capabilities while strengthening the Organic Industrial Base's ability to meet solid propellant rocket motor propulsion needs.

Why it matters: "The Lockheed Martin Corporation, I will say, is one of the largest producers and procurers of solid-rocket motors in Western civilization," he said in an interview.

Lockheed, also the world's largest defense contractor by revenue, "does not enter these agreements lightly, is what we understand," he added. "They get their choice of investments in these areas."
The latest: The arrangement coincides with the closure of X-Bow's Series B funding round at a little more than $105 million.

Investors include Razor's Edge Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Balerion Space Ventures and Capital Factory Ventures.
Lockheed Martin Ventures and Boeing Ventures were early backers, as well.
Between the lines: X-Bow (pronounced crossbow) is among a handful of fresh SRM competitors in the U.S. The cadre's breakout comes as pricey munitions are expended across the world and the Pentagon sweats industrial health back home.

State of play: X-Bow is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is building an energetics campus near Austin, Texas. It will open soon.

The company also offers a "rocket factory in a box" for distributed, on-demand production.

Its approximately 300 employees include SpaceX alumni.
Context: X-Bow has inked contracts across the military and, Hundley said, "all the services are ... experiencing the same pinch point at the same time."

"We've been focused on two factors for the last several years: scale and affordability," he said.
The company was previously tapped for work tied to the Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navy's Conventional Prompt Strike.

To strengthen the industrial base and create mutual benefit for both companies, X-Bow and Lockheed Martin have entered into a strategic agreement allowing Lockheed Martin to accelerate X-Bow as a new independent supplier of SRMs and other services for their existing and future programs.