Rocket Propulsion Systems LLC

Rocket Propulsion Systems LLC is a minority-owned, for-profit small business headquartered in Kent, Washington, that specializes in advanced rocket propulsion technologies for space applications. Registered in SAM.gov since May 2019, the company focuses on developing affordable, innovative propulsion systems that serve both civilian and military space launch requirements. The company has established a track record of federal engagement through multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program awards from both the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Science Foundation, positioning itself as a key player in the emerging responsive space operations and small satellite launch vehicle sectors.

Rocket Propulsion Systems LLC has secured three prime federal contracts, all awarded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory under the SBIR program with total small business set-aside designations. The company's largest contract award is a Phase II SBIR contract valued at approximately $3.0 million, awarded in June 2025 with completion targeted for November 2027, which focuses on developing, integrating, testing, and demonstrating revolutionary technologies for resilient and responsive dynamic space operations, specifically high delta-v space transport vehicles capable of rapid response operations. Additionally, the company received two Phase I SBIR contracts: a $54,136 purchase order awarded in February 2025 for the development of a low-cost, single-staged suborbital rocket with completion in April 2025, and a $50,656 purchase order awarded in May 2024 for the development of a low-cost orbital transfer vehicle with completion in August 2024. All three contracts represent firm-fixed-price arrangements and demonstrate the company's progression from initial research concepts through advanced development and demonstration phases.

Rocket Propulsion Systems LLC has received two prime federal grant awards, both supporting the development of liquid oxygen-methane propulsion systems for small satellite launch vehicles. The company received a National Science Foundation SBIR Phase I Project Grant of $255,993 awarded in November 2021 under the Division of Industrial Innovation, supporting a 12-month effort to design and test a liquid oxygen-methane engine for small satellite applications. Building on this foundational work, the company secured a Phase II Cooperative Agreement from the National Science Foundation awarded in September 2023 with completion targeted for February 2026, which focuses on conducting comprehensive hot-fire testing of the rocket engine prototype to demonstrate performance, reliability, reusability, and scalability. The Phase II grant work includes testing combustion devices, powerpack components, and full integrated engine systems, with the broader commercial objective of establishing a rocket engine manufacturing business that supplies lightweight, inexpensive, and reusable engines at approximately one-tenth the production cost of existing market alternatives, thereby supporting U.S. space infrastructure security and national defense priorities.

Rocket Propulsion Systems (RPS), founded in 2019, is a small rocket engine and propulsion stage supplier based in Kent, Washington. We specialize in the design, manufacture, and integration of our engines and stages. Life on Earth today requires satellites. Much of our decision making is heavily dependent on what is happening high above our heads - from monitoring wildfires, deforestation, and sea-surface temperatures to enabling connections to new mobile technologies like 5G in hard-to-reach areas.

Our company wants to help people gather the data they need to solve these problems. Small size satellites can provide incredible amounts of data to them. RPS aims to eliminate the bottleneck of small satellites reaching space only through the services provided by the large primes. We want to make small rocket launches with valuable payloads mainstream. Thus, we have created a low cost environmentally friendly rocket engine and propulsion stage which yield a range of in space capabilities.