Chromatic 3D Materials opens rocket propellant test-fire facility at Camp Ripley

Chromatic 3D Materials has established an integrated rocket propellant test-firing capability at Camp Ripley, a 53,000-acre Minnesota National Guard training facility, under a five-year lease effective June 1, 2026. The site includes a dedicated propellant print lab co-located with live-fire test infrastructure, creating a closed-loop development environment that enables direct transition from fabrication to evaluation. The facility was enabled through collaboration with Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub: Minnesota and the Minnesota National Security Ecosystem, with LEMA contributing expeditionary power expertise.

This move directly addresses a persistent bottleneck in defense-oriented AM: the separation between materials development and qualification testing. By colocating printing and live-fire validation, Chromatic compresses iteration cycles that typically require shipping propellant grains to remote test ranges, a logistical drag that slows adoption of novel grain geometries and formulations. The arrangement mirrors the aerospace qualification grind pattern, where proximity between fabrication and test infrastructure can shave years off certification timelines for energetic materials.

The defense vertical is the clear demand driver here, with the Department of War's dual-use technology acceleration initiatives creating pathways that bypass traditional procurement timelines. For Chromatic, this facility represents a tangible step beyond materials supply toward full-scale propellant manufacturing, positioning the company to serve tactical and strategic propulsion programs where AM's design freedom for complex grain architectures offers performance advantages over cast or extruded alternatives.