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Will Edwards Found Rocketry's Slowest Part - Then Put It on Fast-Forward
A software founder walked into defense conferences carrying something like Lego plastic. Six years later, his company is betting that the bottleneck inside America's missile supply chain can be printed in hours instead of cured for weeks.
Firehawk’s $5,000 Demo: How a Rejected Rocket Startup Learned to Sell the Pentagon Speed
Firehawk began by pitching a new kind of rocket engine. The Pentagon wanted an easier swap. One cheap printer, a filmed hot-fire test and a strategic retreat turned that rejection into a plan for rebuilding the propellant supply chain.
Aeon
Aeon is an Austin-area defense manufacturer building low-cost, software-defined tactical missiles for U.S. and allied forces. Its flagship Zeus system is a modular, shoulder- or platform-launched guided mini-missile with swappable payloads, paired with ODIN autonomous targeting software. By vertically integrating propellant, rocket motors, fuzes and flight computers and leaning on 3D printing and AI-assisted production, Aeon aims to field precision weapons at a fraction of the traditional cost - tens of thousands of dollars per unit rather than hundreds of thousands to millions.