Elkhart-based Bond Technologies is building a stir welding machine for NASA’s Next Generation launch vehicles. Photo from Bond Technologies.
News Release
ELKHART — From a build floor in Elkhart, Indiana, Bond Technologies is engineering one of its most ambitious machines to date: a large-scale Friction Stir Welding system designed to support future space exploration for NASA.
Bond’s Agilis platform will be the basis for NASA’s Multipurpose Weld Tool. Bond is in the late stages of building the gantry-style welder. Once complete, the system will be delivered and installed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.
The Agilis platform is the largest and most advanced gantry-style FSW machine ever developed by the company. Designed for welding rocket bodies, propellant tanks, and other large-scale flight hardware, the system represents a significant step forward in solid-state joining capabilities for aerospace applications.
“This project reflects the level of trust required to build equipment that will be used in the production of flight hardware,” said John Bosker, president of Bond Technologies. “NASA’s requirements for performance, reliability, and control are among the most demanding in manufacturing. Our team approached this as a clean-sheet design, applying years of experience in Friction Stir Welding system development to deliver a machine capable of supporting the next generation of launch vehicles.”
Drawing On Decades Of Experience
The project builds on more than two decades of work with members of Bond’s team and NASA programs.
Model of a Bond GWT System Turntable. Graphic from Bond Technologies.
Prior to the formation of Bond Technologies, members of the team designed and built NASA’s Vertical Weld Tool in Elkhart, in 2007 under the ARES Constellation program. Installed at Marshall Space Flight Center in 2008, the VWT has since been used in multiple applications, including fabrication of the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter for Artemis missions.
Today, eight members of that original team work at Bond and continue to service the Vertical Weld Tool for NASA to this day, providing continuity in both expertise and execution.
The Largest System Ever Built By Bond Technologies
The Gantry Weld Tool represents the largest footprint gantry machine ever built by Bond Technologies and the company’s first full-scale rocket welding system.
Beyond its size, the system reflects the complexity required for aerospace-grade manufacturing, where weld quality, process control, and system reliability directly impact mission success.
“Aerospace systems like this require a different level of engineering rigor,” said Bosker. “The control architecture, structural design, and process capability all have to perform consistently under demanding conditions. That is where Bond has focused its efforts over the years.”
“This is work our team takes seriously,” said Tim Haynie, CEO at Bond Technologies. “There is a strong sense of pride in contributing to something larger than ourselves and supporting the future of space exploration.”