From requirement to motor, one pipeline.
State a mission need in plain language. Manifold, our design pipeline, solves the grain geometry, proves it against the thrust envelope, and releases it to our vacuum-extrusion line — as a flight-ready solid rocket motor.
Static fire SF-2026-027 — SDP-48I-A, June 2026
Unedited test footage with live telemetry
Vertically integrated, from raw chemistry to flight-ready motor.
Shepherd Space Systems is a defense-focused aerospace company building the next generation of solid rocket motor manufacturing. We design propellant formulations, extrude complex grain geometries, wind composite casings, mold phenolic nozzle assemblies, and static fire complete motor systems, all under one roof.
Our core innovation is a vacuum-isolated extrusion process that eliminates the primary failure mode in solid propellant manufacturing: entrapped air voids. Where conventional casting depends on gravity and manual technique, our process uses precision volumetric extrusion under hard vacuum to produce propellant grains with near-theoretical density and measurably tighter ballistic performance.
We are actively executing defense contracts and scaling our manufacturing to support tactical and strategic solid propulsion programs across the Department of the Air Force.
Every critical subsystem, manufactured in-house.
No supply chain bottlenecks. No geometry constraints from legacy tooling. Full traceability from raw chemistry to flight-ready motor.
Propellant Formulation & Extrusion
High-solids composite propellant processed through our proprietary vacuum-boundary extrusion system. Complex internal geometries including star, finocyl, and moonburner profiles. Measured void fraction under 0.5%.
Composite Motor Casings
Filament-wound carbon fiber casings engineered for high chamber pressures and extreme thermal loads. Demonstrated burst pressure exceeding 1,100 psi with production-batch destructive testing.
Nozzle & Thermal Protection
Hydraulically compression-molded phenolic nozzle assemblies with graphite throat inserts. In-house Bulk Molding Compound manufacturing. Erosion rates under 0.002 in/sec across extended burns.
Static Fire & Qualification Testing
Fully instrumented test operations with high-frequency pressure, thrust, and temperature data acquisition. Burn rate characterization, structural proof, and lot acceptance testing.
Counter-UAS Propulsion
Solid rocket motors engineered for kinetic counter-drone applications. High-efficiency designs optimized for rapid-response deployment in partnership with the U.S. Space Force.
Digital Process Control
Real-time extrusion monitoring with closed-loop control. Full digital traceability from propellant batch through final motor assembly, supporting production readiness reviews.
Designed per mission, not per catalog.
Manifold does not produce one motor — it produces the motor each program needs. Below is one output of the pipeline: a Ø54 mm tactical motor, from the same design file our tooling and extrusion line build from.
Geometry shown is a real design file from our pipeline — every program gets its own motor, solved to its own envelope.
Why extrusion changes the equation.
The standard method for loading solid propellant into a motor case is casting: a heated slurry is poured in, flows around a mandrel under gravity, and cures in place. This process works, but it introduces air at the propellant-case interface and around complex mandrel features. The resulting voids create unpredictable burn behavior and scatter in chamber pressure and thrust.
Our approach replaces gravity with a progressive cavity pump operating behind a hard vacuum boundary. Propellant is extruded directly onto the mandrel at controlled volumetric rates, with no air path into the grain. The result is a propellant column with near-theoretical density.
We have measured this difference across five static fires: our vacuum-extruded grains produce a 15% tighter standard deviation in thrust-time profiles compared to cast grains of identical formulation. That is not a simulation. It is instrumented test data.
Building for the warfighter.
Active work spanning tactical propulsion, counter-UAS, and atmospheric research across defense and commercial aerospace.
Counter-UAS Systems
Engineering and manufacturing solid rocket motors for a kinetic counter-drone mechanism commissioned by the United States Space Force. High-efficiency propulsion optimized for rapid engagement of unmanned aerial threats.
Tactical Motor Production
Manufacturing high-efficiency solid rocket motors for payload delivery applications. Precision grain geometries tailored for specific thrust profiles and mission envelopes.
Scaled Motor Qualification
Expanding our vacuum-extrusion platform to larger motor diameters for tactical missile applications. Hardware scaling, qualification testing, and manufacturing process documentation for technology transition.
Built by an engineer who understands the mission.
Shepherd Kruse
Shepherd founded Shepherd Space Systems to solve a problem he saw firsthand: the solid rocket motor industrial base lacks the agile, flexible manufacturing capability that modern defense programs require. He designed and built the company's extrusion system, propellant formulations, and motor hardware from scratch.
Let's talk propulsion.
We work with defense program offices, prime contractors, and research laboratories developing next-generation solid propulsion systems.
If you are exploring advanced manufacturing approaches for tactical or strategic solid rocket motors, or need a responsive production partner for small-to-medium SRM programs, we welcome the conversation.