Mojave, California-based EvolutionSpace has a new agreement with NASA to begin construction of a solid thruster center and solid rocket engine testing at the agency's Stennis Space Center.
The Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant was the first and only ammunition plant built by the Army in the decades following the Korean War. The buildings were acquired by NASA in 2011. This will be the first time that NASA's Stennis Division has taken charge of the research and development of solid rocket engines.
The startup plans to start producing solid rocket motors at the new factory in the second quarter of next year. The company will also conduct static fire testing of the engine at the E-3 test complex in Stennis.
"Working with NASA, we were able to quickly build a facility that adds considerable capability to the U.S. solid rocket motor industrial base," Manny Ballestero, Evolution's vice president of production and development, said in a statement.
Evolution said in a press release that it has growing test and flight operations in the Gulf region and is currently partnering with offshore launch platform startup The Spaceport Company to develop these operations. The latter hosted four Evolution sounding rocket launches from a floating platform in the Gulf in May.
According to SpaceNews, the company also announced the completion of a round of bridge financing while continuing its Series A round of financing.