*Registration deadline: March 31, 2026

Featuring:

Latest from ASTRO America

ASTRO South is the headquarters of ASTRO America’s AM Forward initiative, an industry network composed of leading defense and aerospace firms including ASTM, Boeing, GE Aerospace, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, and Siemens Energy. Together, we advance manufacturing breakthroughs in three key ways:

• organizing technology challenges with certain small businesses and suppliers;
• prototyping new production processes or systems; and
• demonstrating novel applications to reduce production cost and lead times.

This work is undertaken in concert with Florida State University’s Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Education (InSPIRE) in our unique end-to-end innovation labs, including space at Maritech Machine. In 2025, we selected Additive Assurance and Addiguru as top finalists of the ASTRO-ASTM-InSPIRE Actionable In-Situ Awareness Challenge. Subsequently, ASTRO was selected to lead a Department of War America Makes sponsored project on inspection methods which will build off lessons learned from the challenge in laser powder bed fusion process-qualification in the coming year.

ASTRO Midwest has been growing substantially as we continue to pioneer solid-state additive manufacturing (including additive friction stir deposition). Sponsored by the U.S. Army’s Development Command, our team of engineers– working closely with Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) personnel– have generated one-of-a-kind approaches to using this technology, including pre-process material feedstock treatment, in-situ monitoring, process controls, heat treatment, and post-process inspection.

In 2025, we jumpstarted our third project order under our OTA, a $20 million initiative to establish a metrology and characterization lab that can be accessible by both government and industry end-users close to RIA. Together with the Army, ASTRO is launching this new center to process and validate large metal components, and meet aerospace grade qualification requirements. More to come on this effort in 2026!

ASTRO Indo-Pacific saw the official establishment of the Guam Additive Materials & Manufacturing Accelerator (GAMMA), sponsored by the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base program and BlueForge Alliance. Together with key partners, we are building just-in-time manufacturing capacity on-island to meet important submarine supply chain needs. Our newly established application center in Dededo is now being outfitted with the latest additive manufacturing technology as well as non-destructive testing equipment.

Additionally, we announced the launch of a satellite campus of the Colorado School of Mines at the University of Guam which will build a world-class talent pool of American citizens ready to build critical shipboard subsystems and components in the Indo-Pacific. ASTRO has worked with the Guam Economic Development Authority, University of Guam, and Colorado School of Mines and others to establish a permanent higher education and business incubation mecca for students in the Marianas.

To ensure our initiative remains aligned with key national defense needs, we hosted a user symposium on Naval Base Guam, attended by military operators and maintainers from the U.S. Navy as well as other U.S. military services. Information collected during this historic forum is serving as a critical foundation for defining the requirements and capabilities required to satisfy growing maritime industrial needs.

ASTRO Mid-Atlantic continues to undertake critical research in metal additive modeling and process development in support of hypersonic technology Over the last year, its work has supported technology development, derivative of ASTRO’s initial Hypersonic Production Accelerator Facility design several years ago. In 2025, we were recognized by ASTM and selected to present at the International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing. ASTRO discussion focused on process simulation to short-circuit development processes of tailored sensors for metal laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing in a session entitled Sensor Optimization and Signal Prediction via Process Monitoring Simulation Tool for Laser Metal AM. As we turn to 2026, the team is pivoting to apply much of these lessons to laser welding of parts.