Space Engines

Getting to space requires more than just rocket science. It requires materials proven to perform when the stakes are out of this world.
Why ATI

High Heat. Higher Demands.

Rocket thrusters generate temperatures that push traditional materials beyond their limits. Niobium alloys provide the high-temperature performance needed to withstand those conditions and keep critical propulsion systems performing.

Decades of Propulsion Expertise

For more than six decades, materials innovation has helped push spaceflight forward. In 1960, ATI helped develop C103™, a niobium alloy that rocket thrusters continue to rely on today.

From Development to Flight

Space programs demand materials that move from concept to production without compromising performance. Developmental quantities are tested and refined before scaling to production, helping bring new materials and components to flight-ready application.

Nobody Does Niobium Like Us

More than 60 years of niobium development have built deep expertise across alloy design, processing and manufacturing. That knowledge continues to drive the development of refractory materials for the next generation of space propulsion.

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Launch & In-Space Propulsion

C103™ is a proven refractory alloy for rocket propulsion, combining high-temperature performance with the fabricability needed for complex engine components.
What’s the challenge?

Operating Challenge

Rocket propulsion components need to maintain strength, dimensional stability, and reliability throughout launch and operation. 

ATI Advantage

The ATI Solution & Value

C103 niobium alloy has the high-temperature capability required, with decades of development and application experience behind it. Expertise in refractory alloy production and processing helps translate the material’s property into reliable engine components. 

Fabricability at Extreme Temperatures

Materials for space propulsion are manufactured into precise, complex components. Refractory alloy expertise balances high-temperature performance with the processing and fabrication requirements of real-world engine designs.  
What’s the challenge?

Maintaining Material Properties Through Manufacturing

Refractory alloys can be difficult to process and fabricate as engine designs demand increasingly complex geometries and tighter performance requirements. 

ATI Advantage

Decades of Refractory Alloy Experience

Expertise in optimizing material composition and processing for the demands of space applications supports the fabrication of C103™ and other refractory materials in the forms and components engineers need. 

Purity, Quality & Performance at Scale

Producing high-performance alloys at scale requires control over the material, the manufacturing process and the testing used to validate it. 
What’s the challenge?

Maintaining Consistency & Quality

Small variations in chemistry, processing or material quality can affect performance in critical propulsion applications.

ATI Advantage

Mastering Extreme Materials

Integrated manufacturing and testing capability provide creator control from alloy production through final material qualification. This delivers consistent material properties and quality as space programs move into production. 

Additive Manufacturing

Developing both the material and the process creates a path from specialized alloy powder to complex, high-performance components. 
What’s the challenge?

Complex Geometry & Difficult Materials

Additive manufacturing can enable more complex designs, but only when the powder, printing process and resulting material properties are tightly controlled. 

ATI Advantage

An Integrated Path From Material to Part

Developing both the atomization process for refractory alloy powder and the printing process for the finished component creates an integrated path from material to complex, high-performance space hardware.