A leading Washington-based aerospace company that focuses on developing reusable launch vehicles, sought to scale its engineering operations across hardware, software, and systems domains. With a goal of reducing launch costs while maintaining high reliability, the company is continuously working to push the limits of vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL) technologies.
Client Challenges
With rapidly expanding project scopes, including suborbital systems, human spaceflight vehicles, and lunar landers, the client faced several challenges across their business units. They needed a partner who could quickly ramp up and unify project efforts throughout their organization.
The client’s biggest pain points required expert engineering support in the following areas:
- Hardware Engineering: The project required tight integration of propulsion systems, avionics, cryogenic tanks, and structural components—all under strict mass and thermal constraints.
- Software Engineering: Their software needs required a robust, and scalable development for efforts towards developing flight-critical embedded software and control systems.
- Systems Engineering: There was a high demand for advanced configuration management, verification & validation, and interface control as cross-disciplinary coordination became increasingly complex.
To keep up with growing demands, the company needed a flexible engineering partner to help unify their teams’ efforts without slowing down project timelines, deliverables, and production of prototypes.
Our Approach
In 2022, Triple Crown Consulting was brought in as a preferred managed services supplier to support a unified development approach. Over the next three years, Triple Crown constructed a dedicated team for the client and has supported them in over 80 SOW engagements which included over 100 technical resources.
Triple Crown continued to provided support in the following areas:
Specialized Engineering Support
- FPGA Avionics Engineering: Delivered engineers skilled in VHDL/Verilog for designing and verifying mission-critical logic blocks, utilizing ModelSim and Vivado.
- Cable & Harness Design: Provided electrical CAD support using Zuken E3 and Capital Harness, ensuring NASA-compliant routing and integration.
Embedded Software & DevOps
- Developed real-time embedded software on RTOS platforms including VxWorks and RTEMS.
- Implemented CI/CD pipelines via Jenkins and GitLab for continuous integration and automated testing.
Testing & Validation
- Designed HIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) systems for closed-loop simulation and fault injection.
- Built automated hardware test environments to validate avionics under real-world conditions.
Systems & Safety Engineering
- Supported RF systems integration and conducted field testing of communication infrastructure.
- Provided fluid safety engineers for risk assessments related to cryogenic and hypergolic propellants, aligned with NASA and FAA regulations.
With weekly meetings, close collaboration, and a dedicated team built specifically for their program, Triple Crown has remained flexible and responsive while delivering top engineering solutions.
Client Outcomes
By establishing an engineering support framework across hardware, software, and systems domains, Triple Crown has accelerated the client’s innovation cycles and helped build a scalable foundation for future space missions.
Key outcomes from the engineering partnership include:
- Successful development and launch of reusable suborbital and orbital launch vehicles
- Reduced turnaround time between missions through modular, maintainable designs
- Increased mission reliability through rigorous systems integration and testing
- Improved cross-disciplinary collaboration through shared models and digital tools
Triple Crown has been able to turn ambitious challenges into successes—ensuring that each milestone brings the client closer to their spaceflight innovation goals.