Defense propsulsion • built in america

The propulsion America's
missile programs need now.

Throttleable. Restartable. Non-explosive. Manufactured entirely in Florida — no single-source suppliers, no overseas dependencies. Vaya's vortex-hybrid engine is in active co-engineering with the US Army, Air Force, DARPA, and industry partners.

The Capability Gap

Two architectures have dominated for decades. Neither solves the problem.

Solid rockets are simple and reliable, but they can't throttle, can't restart, and detonate on impact. Liquid bi-propellant engines solve those problems, but only with explosive, cryogenic propellant and thousands of moving parts.

Vaya's vortex-hybrid delivers enhanced engine performance from a simpler, safer architecture — manufactured entirely in-house.

See how they compare below.
$21.4B
U.S. DOW budget 2022–2024
$13B
Emerging low-cost interceptor market by 2030
$14B
Emerging hypersonics market by 2030
Solid rocket
Liquid bi-propellant
Vaya vortex-hybrid
Throttle & restart
Enhanced engine performance from a hybrid architecture, with far fewer moving parts.
0-100%, 11x restart tested
Fuel safety
Shoot it or bomb it — it will not explode.
Burns only - HDPE
System complexity
Hybrid architecture enables enhanced performance without liquid-engine complexity.
Simple, fewer parts
Manufacturing base
Fuel grain to finished engine, produced entirely in-house at one Florida facility.
Vertically integrated
Range v. long-range baseline
Confirmed through Army CRADA testing and industry partner co-engineering.
+35%, Army confirmed
Throttle & restart
Throttleable and restartable, but only with thousands of parts and complex turbopump systems.
Yes, but complex
Fuel safety
High-performance liquid propellants are volatile and often require cryogenic storage.
Explosive & cryogenic
System complexity
Turbopumps, valves, and plumbing required for performance — Merlin, Raptor, RS-25 class systems.
Thousands of parts
Manufacturing base
Requires extensive cryogenic ground systems and specialized facilities to operate.
Massive infrastructure
Range v. long-range baseline
Liquid bi-propellant is not used in tactical missile classes
Not deployed for defense purposes
Throttle & restart
Fixed burn from ignition to burnout — no mid-course thrust control.
Not possible
Fuel safety
Solid propellant is explosive — a risk in storage, transport, and combat handling.
Detonation hazard
System complexity
Mechanically simple, but that simplicity is exactly what limits its capability.
Simple, few parts
Manufacturing base
Down from 6 — a vanishingly small, highly constrained supplier base.
2 established US manufacturers
Range v. long-range baseline
Current GMLRS-class performance, unchanged for decades.
Baseline
Hover any row for detail · toggle between all three propulsion types
Toggle between all three propulsion types

How Vaya compares

Throttle & restart
Enhanced engine performance from a hybrid architecture, with far fewer moving parts.
0-100%, 11x restart tested
Fuel safety
Shoot it or bomb it — it will not explode.
Burns only - HDPE
System complexity
Hybrid architecture enables enhanced performance without liquid-engine complexity.
Simple, fewer parts
Manufacturing base
Fuel grain to finished engine, produced entirely in-house at one Florida facility.
Vertically integrated
Range v. long-range baseline
Confirmed through Army CRADA testing and industry partner co-engineering.
+35%, Army confirmed

How Vaya compares

Throttle & restart
Enhanced engine performance from a hybrid architecture, with far fewer moving parts.
0-100%, 11x restart tested
Fuel safety
Shoot it or bomb it — it will not explode.
Burns only - HDPE
System complexity
Hybrid architecture enables enhanced performance without liquid-engine complexity.
Simple, fewer parts
Manufacturing base
Fuel grain to finished engine, produced entirely in-house at one Florida facility.
Vertically integrated
Range v. long-range baseline
Confirmed through Army CRADA testing and industry partner co-engineering.
+35%, Army confirmed
Built in florida

No single-source suppliers.
No overseas dependencies.

Every Vaya engine is designed, printed, machined, and tested at one location in Florida — fully vertically integrated, with no dependency on the fragile supply chain constraining the rest of the industry.

Clean-sheet design to a live 5 inch-class engine test in five months. The traditional industrial base measures that in years.
The Technology

Two patented solutions to a
90-year-old problem.

A patented vortex injector solves the thrust efficiency problem that limited every prior hybrid engine. A 3D-printed printed and formed plastic fuel grains solve the combustion stability problem — and happens to be non-explosive.

"Throttleability was a very hard problem to solve." — DARPA, on variable-thrust missile enginesAerospace America, 2025

3 patents granted • 5 pending

Covering the vortex-injection architecture and 3D-printed fuel grain manufacturing process — the two breakthroughs no other US defense propulsion company has fielded at this scale.
✓ Full patent portfolio ->
Active Programs

In active co-engineering with
public and private partners.

US Army DEVCOM AvMC

Proposed drop-in replacement for existing systems. CRADA signed 2024, range increase confirmed.
Active

Industry partners

Initial joint testing in process. VP-level letter of support signed.
Active

US Air Force Global Strike Command

SBIR Phase II — hybrid-fueled ramjet for hypersonic applications.
Active

DARPA

Burn N' Go — standardized hybrid propulsion across missile platforms.
Complete

US Army DEVCOM AvMC

Proposed drop-in replacement for existing systems. CRADA signed 2024, range increase confirmed.
Active

Industry partners

Initial joint testing in process. VP-level letter of support signed.
Active

US Air Force Global Strike Command

SBIR Phase II — hybrid-fueled ramjet for hypersonic applications.
Active

DARPA

Burn N' Go — standardized hybrid propulsion across missile platforms.
Complete

Discuss a specific
program requirement.

Our engineering team engages directly with program offices and primes. No intermediaries.
Contact our team —>

Vaya Space develops advanced hybrid propulsion systems for defense and space applications. With active programs under the US Army, US Air Force, DARPA, and industry partners, Vaya's patented Vortex-Hybrid engine is the leading hybrid propulsion platform under US defense development.

© 2026 Vaya Defense & Space, Inc. All rights reserved.