Press Release
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Physical Sciences, Inc. (PSI) is expanding its New Hampshire and Massachusetts operations to meet the growing need for the rapid development and deployment of advanced weapons systems. Recent publications have highlighted the need to increase weapon system production rates, range, and lethality, all at lower cost, to meet the demands of modern warfare.
Layout of PSI’s expanded New Hampshire Energetics Development
and Test Facility.
PSI recently signed a lease to expand its energetic materials operations in New Hampshire to 13 acres and will employ as many as 25 scientists and engineers at the site. The site develops and tests new rocket motor and engine technology for the Department of Defense and engages in the development of new propellants and propellant formulations to drive missiles to longer ranges with higher lethality.
PSI will invest approximately $3M in site improvements and over $1M in capital equipment to expand its operations at the site over the next two years, all supervised and approved by the Defense Contract Management Agency as well as federal, state, and local permitting authorities. The expansion will allow the development of capabilities at a scale relevant to near-term low-rate production while maturing a core technology that reduces rocket propellant cure time by over a week to increase production rates.
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Concurrent with the expansion of the New Hampshire facility is an expansion of PSI’s Massachusetts chemistry facilities to scale up production of key non-energetic ingredients in propellant and explosives production. Many of these ingredients can only be sourced from overseas, often at considerable cost and risk in time of conflict. The expansion of this facility requires a $5.6M investment by PSI, also in the next two years. These advanced technologies were developed by PSI through funding provided by the Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs. These capabilities are almost exclusively found at large defense companies due to their high safety and permitting requirements. The “molecules to motors” approach taken by the company could only be done by a small business through the ability of those programs to support successive phases of technology maturation, as well as increases in scale and regulatory complexity, across multiple defense applications. |
Advanced Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine being fired at PSI’s current New Hampshire R&D facility. |
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This expansion will enable PSI to further recruit and develop a workforce for advanced chemical manufacturing of energetic materials and precursors. It also provides an opportunity others developing energetic technology solutions to test those solutions at a lower cost and with easier access. Bill Marinelli, PSI’s President and CEO, indicated that “This effort puts PSI and the SBIR/STTR program at the forefront of small business modernization of the nation’s energetic materials industrial base.”