Joint Economical Sled Track Rocket (JESTR)

The Department of Defense (DoD) rocket sled test tracks have been used to conduct thousands of missions in support of critical national defense programs and special applications by propelling test articles in a uniquely controlled environment. With few exceptions, the sled track community has used aging Cold War-era Surplus solid Rocket Motors (SRMs) for its propulsion needs to conduct these missions. The current supplies are rapidly being depleted and there are few suitable alternatives. Beyond the availability issues, other limitations include inadequate performance of existing SRMs to meet the requirements of future customers, and the unreliability of the motors to consistently perform as intended. The purpose of this project is to develop an propulsion technology and/or test apparatus to enable track-based dynamic testing to continue.

06/29/21: Request for White Papers Released
08/11/21: White Papers Due
11/04/21: Solution Selected
03/07/22: Request for Proposal Released
04/18/22: Proposal Submitted
11/24/22: Awarded