KC-built Raven Space Systems awarded $1.8M contract via Air Force’s innovation arm

A LaunchKC alum’s latest stratospheric news: a hefty U.S. defense contract to produce 3D-printed reentry aeroshells for hypersonic flight testing — a breakthrough technology that’s expected to address some of the of most pressing challenges faced by today’s Air Force.

Raven Space Systems on Monday announced the $1,800,000 STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) Phase II contract. It was awarded by AFWERX, an innovation arm within the Air Force Research Laboratory that seeks out cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and startups.

“Our selection highlights the importance of Raven’s automated composite manufacturing technology for critical defense systems,” said Dr. Blake Herren, CEO and co-founder of Raven Space Systems.

The company — one of Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024 and a winner of the LaunchKC grants competition in November 2023 — uses automated composite 3D printing technology to minimize labor, tooling, and waste to rapidly manufacture optimally designed structures, thermal protection.

Blake Herren, Raven Space Systems, delivers his pitch at LaunchKC in 2023; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“This contract will allow Raven to develop our systems for reentry vehicle aeroshell production, including the thermal protection system that is traditionally difficult to manufacture,” he continued. “Raven’s breakthrough composite 3D printing innovation will significantly improve the efficiency of aeroshell production. Raven is excited to work with our partners on this project and honored to provide a unique hypersonics capability to the DoD.”

SpaceWorks and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) are among the company’s collaborators on the project.

Raven is leveraging the expertise and capabilities of collaborators at SpaceWorks, tapping into their RED-Data reentry systems, as well as the state-of-the-art thermal protection testing facilities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). 

“Since 2017, SpaceWorks has been at the forefront of reentry vehicle development, advancing solutions for both government and commercial hypersonic testing needs,” said Tyler Kunsa, vice president of defense and space systems at SpaceWorks. “With Raven’s cutting-edge 3D-printed aeroshell technology, we’re poised to drive down costs and expand capabilities, delivering affordable, high-performance hypersonic testing as a service to the industry.”

Raven is building aerospace-grade composite 3D printing smart factories that will drastically reduce lead times to days, lower the cost of critical components, and usher in a new era of composite manufacturing for the U.S. and its allies, Herren said.

The startup — which also is led by co-founder Ryan Cowdrey — earlier this year received a patent for its Microwave Assisted Deposition (MAD) 3D printing innovation, as well as completing a $2 million pre-seed round.