Applied Aerospace Acquires NeXolve

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Applied Aerospace, a proven manufacturer of solutions for commercial and military spacecraft, aircraft, and ground-based systems, announced it has completed the acquisition of NeXolve.  The company brings rich expertise in thermo-mechanical engineering and advanced polymer applications for space systems.  NeXolve has developed deployable sunshields, solar sails, and atmospheric drag sails for a wide range of NASA, Department of Defense and commercial spacecraft.  The company also manufactures polyimide films and resins customized to a variety of industrial and scientific applications.  

NeXolve is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama near the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.  It boasts state of the art facilities including multiple clean rooms, a spacecraft assembly bay, characterization laboratory, thin film production line, resin coating booths, and materials synthesis and production center.  One of the company's most notable projects was development, fabrication, and verification testing of the sun shield for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for which NeXolve received NASA's Collier Award for achievement in astronautics.

As part of the acquisition, NeXolve polymer expertise and space proven engineering, will be joined with the large-scale composite and metallic manufacturing capabilities of Applied Aerospace.  The NeXolve brand will be retained as a product line name for the company's extensive portfolio of polyimide resin and film products.  In addition, the combined company plans to develop a new line of deployable sub-systems including solar arrays, sun shields, and passive deorbit systems.  The current NeXolve team and facilities will become the Advanced Materials & Deployable Systems division and serve as the company's executive and operational presence in Huntsville, near one of the nation's most prestigious space technology development centers.

"The complementary engineering capabilities that NeXolve brings to the Applied Aerospace family is incredible," said CEO Kevin Bidlack. "By combining our capabilities, we look forward to developing a new generation of deployable sub-systems that will help our customers improve the mission effectiveness and extend the service life of their spacecraft."

"We are thrilled to become part of the Applied Aerospace team," said NeXolve president and CEO Jim Moore. "At our core, NeXolve is a group of dedicated engineers, physicists, and chemists who come together to solve complex challenges.  As part of Applied Aerospace, we will collectively be able to develop a broader range of solutions for unique applications in both near Earth and deep space exploration."