Low-Volatility, Reduced-Toxicity Hypergolic Propellants - STTR Topic MDA26TZ04-NV003

Funding Amount:

Phase I - $314,000

Deadline to Apply:

August 19th, 2026

ITAR:

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

Objective:

Develop and demonstrate low-volatility, reduced-toxicity hypergolic fuels suitable for Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) thrusters while maintaining critical performance metrics when paired with standard oxidizers.

Description:

This topic seeks novel hypergolic fuels featuring significantly reduced volatility and toxicity compared to traditional hypergolic fuels while maintaining rapid, reliable ignition characteristics essential for missile defense applications.

Current DACS systems typically use highly toxic and volatile fuels which, while offering excellent ignition delays and specific impulse, present significant handling and safety concerns.

The program desires to explore cost-effective alternative fuels that offer reduced vapor pressures while simultaneously minimizing ignition delays to ensure adequate DACS responsiveness in missile defense scenarios.

Candidate solutions might include, but are not limited to:

• Ionic liquids

• Reaction-driven amines

• Boranes

• Others

Hypergolic fuel blends are also an acceptable alternative so long as they could be justified in terms of miscibility and maintained performance across operational temperature ranges.

PHASE I:

The purpose of Phase I is to demonstrate viable low-volatility fuel candidates suitable for DACS applications.

Through laboratory-scale synthesis and testing, the fuel formulation must demonstrate significantly reduced vapor pressure compared to traditional hydrazine-based fuels while maintaining rapid ignition characteristics with standard oxidizers.

Laboratory demonstrations must validate vapor pressure, ignition delay, and basic handling characteristics.

Primary objectives include:

• Demonstration of fuel vapor pressure below 5 kPa at 20°C.

• Initial characterization of density, viscosity, and thermal stability.

While it is acknowledged that there may be trade-offs in performance, the Offeror must quantify the ignition delay and specific impulse using appropriate oxidizers and provide this information to the Government.

Material compatibility testing with common aerospace alloys and preliminary safety assessments must be conducted.

Phase I deliverables should include test data validating the above metrics, with sufficient characterization to enable assessment of potential integration challenges.

PHASE II:

Building upon successful Phase I fuel development, Phase II efforts would focus on validating performance through incremental testing culminating in sub-scale hot-fire demonstrations.

Initial characterization would include drop tests and static mixing evaluations, followed by 3-5 hot-fire demonstrations in a thrust chamber representative of DACS applications (<50 lbf thrust class).

Test campaigns should characterize:

• Ignition reliability and delay times

• Chamber pressure and temperature profiles

• Specific impulse validation

• Material compatibility in fired configuration

• Start-up and shutdown transients

The Phase II effort must deliver comprehensive test data demonstrating repeatable performance, complete fuel production documentation at the subscale level, and analysis showing scalability to flight systems.

Moreover, the Offeror must initially quantify any human and environmental toxicity concerns and detail these in comparison to the present art in hypergolic fuels, as well as initially describe a plausible path to mass production consistent with future needs.

Successful completion would achieve TRL 5 through demonstration in a relevant environment.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:

Phase III efforts would focus on scaling the validated fuel formulation to flight-qualified hardware and demonstrating performance in an operational environment.

The fuel must demonstrate reliable ignition and sustained performance when integrated with flight-representative DACS hardware.

Following this, the Offeror would develop and execute a plan to scale fuel production to the quantities needed.

Commercial applications of this technology include satellite propulsion systems, particularly for constellation deployment where reduced ground handling complexity offers significant operational advantages.

Commercial space companies conducting frequent launches could benefit from safer ground operations enabled by low-volatility fuels.

The small business is expected to obtain funding from non-SBIR government and private sector sources to transition the technology into viable commercial products.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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