COLORADO SPRINGS—X-Bow, a New Mexico-based startup that emerged from stealth mode in March 2022, has confirmed it is developing a 3D-printed prototype solid rocket motor (SRM) for the U.S. Navy’s Standard Missile program under a newly awarded contract from the U.S. Naval Energetics Systems and Technologies program.
The Navy contract, which awarded a similar contract to Colorado startup Ursa Major at the same time, comes as the Defense Department faces a major shortfall in SRM production capacity. X-Bow’s Navy deal—which, like the contract to Ursa Major, covers the development of a new SRM design for application to the Mk. 104 dual-thrust rocket motor—is the first of several missile and propulsion contracts the company is expected to announce in the coming months.
X-Bow’s success follows the completion of an interim funding round in November led by Lockheed Martin Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of the aerospace and defense manufacturer. The round fulfilled X-Bow’s matching requirements for a $60 million Strategic Funding Increase program with the U.S. Air Force’s AFWerx innovation arm that was announced in April 2023.
In June, X-Bow Systems also revealed it had completed a second test of the 32-in.-dia. Ballesta SRM and Bolt rocket. The XL-2B mission, funded by the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, is part of the company’s long-term plan to introduce a large new solid rocket motor for a future low-cost launch service.
The startup also is progressing with the development of larger SRMs targeting hypersonic roles. In 2023 the company unveiled a 34.5-in.-dia. motor that matches the diameter of the two-stage booster for the U.S. Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike programs. X-Bow described the 34.5-in. rocket as a first or upper-stage booster for medium-range ballistic missiles and launch systems.
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