The test-firing of a next generation missile motor has been called a success, Lockheed Martin announced on the opening day of the Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville.

The company said the Stage 2 rocket motor for the Next Generation Interceptor program completed a static fire test inside a high-vacuum chamber that replicates the conditions of low-Earth orbit, preparing it for its intended future missile defense mission.

Lockheed Martin also announced it has been selected for a contract with the Missile Defense Agency to develop, evolve, modernize and sustain the agency’s Modeling & Simulation Objective Simulation Framework, a virtual testing environment for the nation’s missile defense system.

The test-firing demonstrated the L3Harris Technologies’ Stage 2 motor will sustain the extreme thermal and pressure stresses expected during interceptor missions, confirming key performance metrics such as thrust, chamber pressure and combustion stability, company officials said.

“This successful static fire test is a significant milestone on the path to the critical design review and confirms our confidence that the NGI motor will meet the demanding performance envelope required for fielding by 2030,” said Christopher Jewell, Lockheed Martin NGI vice president. “The data gathered will directly inform the final interceptor design and accelerate integration with the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense architecture.”

Lockheed Martin said NGI’s on-time fielding answers the call for an advanced missile defense capability. A successful outcome of the static-fire test reflects the program’s forward trajectory, hitting a key milestone to critical design review.

Other factors pushing NGI toward deployment completion include:

Advanced design and speed: Leveraging NGI’s “born‑digital” foundation, designs that once required years of physical iteration are now produced, fabricated and validated in a matter of months.
Capital investments: Lockheed Martin is investing millions to construct or expand purpose-built manufacturing facilities in Troy. This includes incorporating advanced manufacturing techniques, production lines, tooling and plant layouts to meet urgent production demand.
Whole of Industry Support: Lockheed Martin is leveraging significant supply chain capabilities across the nation to deliver NGI.

Lockheed Martin will partner with MDA’s Directorate of Engineering on the contract called M&S Vistas Framework. The directorate is leading digital transformation across the MDA.

“Missile defense in today’s threat landscape presents an integration challenge across a vast ecosystem,” said Erika Marshall, vice president of Enterprise Mission Command and Control at Lockheed Martin. “M&S Vistas Framework will deliver software-driven innovation and a transformative testing environment that will efficiently deliver capabilities to our operators, reducing risk and ensuring America and its allies are ready for the threats of tomorrow.”

The program will strengthen layered homeland missile defense capabilities that further integrate design, implementation and testing functions, the company said.