RPM Innovations Inc.

RPM Innovations Inc., a for-profit Subchapter S corporation based in Rapid City, South Dakota, manufactures directed energy deposition laser systems and delivers laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED) fabrication services to NASA and Army agencies as a prime contractor (85% of recent awards) and as a subcontractor on rocket engine production for Aerojet Rocketdyne. The vendor competes in full-and-open procurements without set-asides, positioning itself as a sole-source provider of specialized aerospace manufacturing capabilities in high-temperature alloy processing and thin-wall component fabrication.

RPM Innovations' customer base concentrates heavily on NASA and Army R&D programs. NASA's Shared Services Center accounts for 23 awards (49% of the portfolio) valued at $4.9 million in combined potential value, with work performed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and at RPM's Rapid City facility. The Department of the Army Materiel Command's Research, Development and Engineering Command supplies 15 awards ($2.4 million combined potential value), spanning equipment maintenance, system upgrades, and facility relocation support at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Benet Laboratories in Watervliet, New York. Together these two customers represent 98% of award count and 100% of combined potential value across the recent portfolio. Marshall Space Flight Center work, while sometimes attributed to NASA Shared Services Center in award reporting, constitutes a distinct customer category representing six awards.

RPM Innovations' capability portfolio centers on laser powder directed energy deposition for aerospace propulsion components. Representative prime work includes a $249,205 sole-source purchase order from NASA's Shared Services Center (April 2025) for a thin-wall turn-around manifold directed energy deposition component in JBK-75 Fe-Ni alloy for the RS-25 rocket engine; a $248,985 sole-source order (July 2025) for JBK-75 representative process build samples, including a 70%-deposition thin-wall large-scale RS-25 nozzle prototype with a build volume of at least 60 inches in diameter by 72 inches in height; and a $199,905 sole-source purchase order (June 2025) for a laser powder directed energy deposition technology demonstrator part for a valve dome casting replacement, producing fine and coarse feature demonstrator parts with thin-wall features down to 1 millimeter. Most recent work includes a $349,600 purchase order (June 2026) for fabrication of JBK-75 and NASA HR-1 nozzle assemblies, witness specimens, tool code generation, and laser scanning inspection. Army work includes a $46,195 annual maintenance contract (May 2025, running through June 2028) for remote support and onsite maintenance of an RPMI 222 laser system, and a $46,075 decommissioning and reinstallation purchase order (May 2025) for an Army Research Laboratory Rapid Prototype Machine 222 at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The vendor also subcontracts as a manufacturing supplier to Aerojet Rocketdyne on RS-25 production-restart work supporting the Space Launch System program (three awards dated August 2024 through December 2025) and participates as a sub-award recipient in Auburn University's Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT) project (two awards, May and August 2024) to develop domestic supply chains for specialized aerospace manufacturing.

Activity shows growth from 2022 through 2025, rising from four awards annually in 2022–2023 to nine awards in 2025, with only two awards logged so far in 2026. Three awards (combined potential value $836 thousand) face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months. The vendor sits on the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS+) GWAC with one reported task order, though the bulk of work flows through NASA and Army direct purchase orders rather than through parent vehicles. Award NAICS concentration reflects the manufacturing and maintenance focus: Powder Metallurgy Part Manufacturing dominates at 15 awards, followed by Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance at 12 awards. Service Contract Inventory reports one FY2024 record in a named-subcontractor role (1.7 FTEs), indicating that SCI-reportable service work represents a minor portion of the vendor's federal portfolio — the vast majority of recent federal activity is goods procurement and manufacturing fabrication outside SCI scope. The vendor's prime-contract footprint and sole-source award pattern position RPM Innovations as a specialized vendor locked into NASA propulsion technology development and Army advanced manufacturing support, with limited diversification across customer agencies or contract vehicles.