Northrop Grumman tests fast-developed SMART motor, looks ahead to future applications

Date:
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:52:37 +0000

Description:
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), one of the largest space and defense contractors in the United The post Northrop Grumman tests fast-developed
SMART motor, looks ahead to future applications appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), one of the largest space and defense contractors in the United States, is best known for its Space Shuttle and SLS solid rocket motors. However, it also manufactures a wide range of other
solid rocket motors for space and defense applications.

The company maintains and operates a program, the Solid Motor Annual Technology Demonstrator (SMART), to test new technologies and processes for building solid motors. SMART takes on more technical risk and includes processes and materials that are not traditionally part of solid rocket motor development. NGC develops and tests solid motors yearly for this purpose.

Northrop Grummans SMASH!22 SMART motor test firing at Promontory, Utah, on Dec. 4, 2025. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)

On Thursday, Dec. 4, NGC tested its latest SMART-developed motor at its solid motor manufacturing and testing facility in Promontory, Utah. The test took place at 1:00 PM MST (20:00 UTC).

The motor was successfully tested for a nominal full-duration firing of 26 seconds, with only a minor issue reported: a fire extinguishing system that activated after a slight delay. Fortunately, this issue did not affect the motor or its performance.

The Solid Motor Adaptable Scalable Half Time/Cost !22 (SMASH!22) motor, with
a steel case measuring just over 0.5 m in diameter and just over three meters in length, produced over 100,000 N (22,500 lbf) of thrust during its test firing.

SMASH!22, as well as the BAMM 2.0 motor, developed this year under the 2025 SMART demo program, took just eight months from a clean sheet to its critical design review, compared to the typical three-year gap between these
milestones for solid rocket motors.

SMASH!22 represents a low-cost, propellant-ready motor that was produced with robotic manufacturing processes, new case welding methods, and additively manufactured tooling. Tooling is typically a long-lead item, and the company is testing new ways to manufacture it more quickly.

One new robotic manufacturing method specifically tested on the SMASH!22
motor was a method for spraying the liner in the rocket motor using automation, removing manual labor from the process. A 3D elastomer component was also tested, along with a new mandrel on which the case was wrapped. One tested, one to go! We completed a static fire test of a new solid rocket
motor designed, manufactured and tested in less than a year to advance innovative solid rocket propulsion technologies. https://t.co/DBcXUNMVUQ pic.twitter.com/5JhC6TdSkM

Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) December 4, 2025



SMASH!22 is similarly sized to missile defense interceptors and target rockets, as well as sounding rockets for research. The SMASH!22 demonstrator is not, however, a replacement for existing motors; it is a demonstrator of emerging technology and manufacturing methods.

This is the third year in a row that NGC tested a new motor for SMART, and
the third test under the program, which first built and tested a motor in 2023. The program tests new technologies informed by customers to raise their technological readiness level, as well as to implement improvements and changes to manufacturing processes. The first SMART demo motor that was
tested in 2023. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)

The BAMM 2.0 motor is currently scheduled to conduct its test firing in the first quarter of 2026. The BAMM 2.0 motor will use additively manufactured tooling and components, including a hybrid metal-additively manufactured polymer propellant mold set and casting tool components.

BAMM 2.0 will also test a lightweight nozzle structure, elastomer propellant cast interfaces, and an elastomer environmental seal. Each years
configuration can be rapidly adapted to industry needs, and NGC is still evaluating the technologies and innovations to be tested for the 2026 SMART effort.

When BAMM 2.0 is tested, it is scheduled to fire for 35 seconds while generating over 151,200 N (34,000 lbf) of thrust. BAMM 2.0 is 0.74 m in diameter, slightly wider than SMASH!22, but also slightly shorter than SMASH!22 at 3.28 m in length. In under six months, we teamed up with our Australian partner, Titomic Limited, to design, manufacture and successfully test 3-D printed metal components for solid rocket motors. pic.twitter.com/tE4lNpwLXt

Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) December 10, 2025



Northrop Grumman is also expanding its supplier base for solid motors to fortify its supply chain, and new suppliers can deliver components for
testing as part of their onboarding. For example, an alternative
carbon-carbon supplier has provided material for testing on SMASH!22 and BAMM 2.0. See Also Northrop Grumman Forum Commercial Spaceflight Section Click
here to Join L2

Not all of the new suppliers are based in the United States. Australias Titomic Ltd is working with NGC on a strategic U.S.-Australian partnership
for guided weapons.

As part of Project 2030, started earlier this decade, NGC invested over $1 billion into upgrading its solid rocket motor production facilities. New facilities and capabilities can accommodate urgent needs and increases in demand due to the current geopolitical environment.

Over 500,000 square feet of new facility space is being added to NGCs Utah operations, including 11 new buildings in the Bacchus facility in Magna for mixing and casting. A 12th building in Clearfield will manufacture cases, and six new buildings are under construction at Promontory itself. Rendering of the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM under development by Northrop Grumman. (Credit:
U.S. Air Force)

NGC is working on two new casting pits at Promontory and expanding its Allegany facility in West Virginia for additional missile manufacturing work. New rocket programs, including hypersonics, are in the pipeline.

The company believes its expansions meant to produce solid motors at scale are strategically important to the nation, while NGC also expects increased commercial demand for motors. Over seven decades, the company has delivered more than 1,300,000 solid rocket motors, ranging from small tactical motors
to SLS boosters.

Even with uncertainty about SLS and its future, new programs like the
Sentinel ICBM project, existing programs such as the Castor 30XL upper stage motors for the Antares 330 series, and other programs in the pipeline will keep the NGC solid rocket facilities in business for the foreseeable future.

(Lead image: The Northrop Grumman SMART programs SMASH!22 motor under
testing at Promontory, Utah on Dec. 4, 2025. Credit: Northrop Grumman)



The post Northrop Grumman tests fast-developed SMART motor, looks ahead to future applications appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/12/ngc-smash22-test/


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