Product Engineering

For our Space and NASA customers, we offer:

• Full lifecycle systems engineering from requirements and concepts though on-orbit mission operations 
• Electronics engineering to include expertise in circuit design, electrical stress analysis, RF, hybrid microelectronics, printed wiring board, electronic chassis/assembly, and electronic thermal/structural analysis
• Mechanical engineering (structures, mechanical devices, hardware test, finite element modeling, stress, loads, dynamics analysis, and structural test)
• Thermal hardware design and development, spacecraft thermal analysis, aero-thermodynamics and computational fluid dynamics analysis 
• Propulsion system design, component sizing, procurement support, integration and test 
• Materials, opto-mechanical and robotics engineering

For our Defense customers, we deliver:

• Advanced modeling, simulation, software and analysis to help our customers develop, evaluate and test next generation weapon systems 
• Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) techniques expediting and improving the SE life-cycle 
• Processor-in-the-loop testing of complex defensive weapon systems 
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing of complex systems and sensors 
• Digital simulation, to include six-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) digital simulation modeling and analysis for complex systems 
• Expedited and enhanced processes for complex system design 

Axient delivers engineering services and solutions for the design, development, test, operations, and enhancements to our Nation’s missile systems across MDA, the Navy, Air Force, and Army. We deliver complete life cycle services including R&D, technology prototyping and demonstration, integration and test, deployment, logistics, and decommissioning.

Missile systems and rapid capabilities development expertise:

• Concept development through operational deployment 
• Engineering redesign to improve systems and add functionality 
• Production engineering processes, procedures, and approaches for improving the overall production processes 
• In-service engineering processes for deployed missile systems 
• Assessment of embedded software in missile systems 
• Integration, test, and analysis of distributed ground testing and live-fire flight testing from missile test ranges 
• Acquisition engineering 
• System-of-systems engineering 
• Fabrication & assembly 
• Digital and hardware-in-the-loop simulation development
• Rapid capability prototype design and production

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)

Axient proudly works on key aspects of the development of the Space Launch System (SLS), including spacecraft docking and berthing mechanisms for the International Space Station. We perform loads and structural dynamic assessments of the integrated vehicle and its elements. Our efforts include:

• Integrated vehicle loads analysis
• Flight loads reconstruction
• Finite element modeling (FEM)
• Hydroelastic fluid modeling
• Structural test support

 The integrated loads analysis includes loads simulations for the rollout from the VAB to the pad, prelaunch pad stay, liftoff, boost phase flight, core stage flight, thrust oscillation, and various off-nominal events. 

Axient provides high altitude ballooning expertise to NASA and the Department of Defense. High altitude ballooning provides a unique, low cost, and rapid ability to perform space science (from near space), surveillance and reconnaissance, and communications. We assimilate flight project requests, formulate the mission, engineer the integrated balloon, flight train, and develop the gondola system with third party-provided payloads, and conduct launch and flight operations including long duration flights (60 to 100 days), aircraft safety surveillance and termination support, and the associated procurement, logistics, meteorology, safety, and reliability engineering.

Competencies in ballooning:

• Technical and project planning, trajectory forecasting, and integrated systems concepts 
• SE&I, electrical, mechanical, software, thermal, and specialty engineering using traditional and model-based techniques
• Procurement and fabrication of systems (balloon, flight train, gondola) 
• Integration and test of flight and ground systems, certification for flight
• Launch site coordination; logistics; meteorology; line-of-site, over-the-horizon, and mesh communications; launch and flight operations
• Flight and ground hazard analysis, risk assessments, and safety plans 
• Risk-based reliability analysis, quality engineering, and supplier quality assurance

Axient delivers engineering, analysis, integration, test, and operations expertise on a wide range of space payloads including electro-optical, communications, hyperspectral, infrared and more. Our expertise spans design, development, test, and launch of infrared instruments variants. We have expertise in space systems payloads from the very onset of reviewing mission requirements and developing or analyzing payload concepts and performing sophisticated trade studies and analyses at the payload level as well as end-to-end mission level.

We design, plan, layout, and develop Mission Control Centers to operate payloads. We have comprehensive engineering expertise in electro-optical sensor payloads, infrared payloads, and diverse payload classes such as communication, hyperspectral, and more.

Axient’s Army C-UAS team has prototyped key structural components of UAS using additive manufacturing and has developed several complete systems, including development and production of the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) truth pod. Our Special Projects laboratory staff prototype and fabricate an array of components, subsystems, and systems used to support the Army C-UAS program. We provide detailed technical expertise, rapid prototyping capability, and personnel with DSP/RF Protocol, Electronic Design, and Mechanical Aeronautic experience. We design custom UAV electronics to allow multiple pilot control of aircraft, custom behavior of “EW attacked” aircraft, and UAV simulators deployed in theater for soldier testing of weaponry. We provide fabrication of precision time and space position information (TSPI) range instrumentation systems for Groups 1 and 2 UAS and a Test Set for deployed systems.

In-house capabilities for rapid prototyping include:

• Multiple 3D printing stations
• CNC machining
• RF testing
• PCB design/debug
• Prototype assembly