ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MARCH 2026 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY 12 NASA AWARDS SUPPORT HYPERSONIC FLIGHT NASA recently issued two new awards for studies into hypersonic flight concepts. Some vehicles such as rockets achieve hypersonic speeds by carrying supplies of oxygen to allow their fuel to burn instead of using the surrounding air. In contrast, NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project (HTP) aims to advance airbreathing, reusable hypersonic aircraft that take in air as they fly, enabling significantly longer sustained cruising at hypersonic speeds. Due to commercial interest in finding applications for airbreathing hypersonic vehicles, the HTP is looking to find ways to make testing and development easier. The new awards went to SpaceWorks Enterprises, Atlanta, and Stratolaunch, Mojave, California. The funding will support a six-month NASA study exploring how current vehicles could be modified to meet the need for reusable, high-cadence, and affordable flight-testing capabilities. SpaceWorks will use its $500,000 award to focus on the X-60 platform, while Stratolaunch will use its $1.2 million award to develop the Talon-A platform. Through these grants, NASA would like the industry to help define the capabilities needed to achieve flight test requirements. The work could also support a future NASA Making Advancements in Commercial Hypersonics project focused on advancing commercial hypersonic vehicles. nasa.gov. ALL-SOLID-STATE BATTERIES RESIST FIRE Researchers at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) developed a materials technology to accelerate commercialization of all- solid-state batteries (ASSBs), which are designed to eliminate the risks of fire and explosion. The Emerging Material Metrology Group at KRISS demonstrated ultra-dense, large-area solid electrolyte membranes by applying a method that coats solid electrolyte powders with multifunctional compounds, reducing production costs to 10% of conventional levels. ASSBs replace the liquid electrolytes commonly used in lithium- ion batteries with nonflammable solid electrolytes, improving safety. Among them, oxide-based ASSBs have gained attention as a promising option due to their high energy density and the absence of risks associated with toxic gas release. Oxide-based ASSBs primarily feature garnet-type solid electrolytes as their core materials due to high ionic conductivity and excellent chemical stability. However, fabrication of high-performance electrolyte membranes requires a high-temperature sintering process, in which the powder is compacted at temperatures exceeding 1000°C. A major challenge during sintering is lithium evaporation, which compromises the structural stability of the electrolyte and leads to significant degradation in material quality. The researchers developed a fabrication technique that thinly coats solid electrolyte powders with Li-Al-O- based multifunctional compound. The resulting surface coating supplies lithium during the sintering process while preventing lithium evaporation. The coating also enhances interparticle bonding through a soldering-like effect, thereby maximizing densification of the electrolyte membrane. Using this approach, the team achieved a record-high density exceeding 98.2%, producing high-strength solid electrolyte membranes free of chemical and mechanical defects. www.nst.re.kr. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Kyoto Fusioneering will develop critical technologies to accelerate deployment of commercial fusion energy. The collaboration will leverage ORNL’s expertise in supercomputing, advanced manufacturing, materials science, and fusion research in developing a fusion blanket test facility. ornl.gov. BRIEF The NASA award to SpaceWorks Enterprises focuses on research using the company’s X-60 platform. Courtesy of SpaceWorks. Research team develops key materials technologies for oxide-based solid electrolyte membranes. Courtesy of KRISS.
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