Chromatic 3D Materials Opens Rocket Propellant Test Facility at Camp Ripley

Chromatic 3D Materials is testing 3D-printed rocket propellants at Camp Ripley

Minnesota company Chromatic 3D Materials has opened an integrated rocket propellant test-firing capability at Camp Ripley, a 53,000-acre National Guard training facility near Little Falls. The five-year lease, effective June 1, puts a dedicated propellant print lab next to live on-site test infrastructure.

The setup is meant to shrink the gap between printing a new grain geometry and seeing it burn. Chromatic calls it a closed-loop environment: design, print, rig, fire, measure, repeat. CEO Cora Leibig says the presence at Camp Ripley lets the company rapidly demonstrate performance and validate manufacturing approaches.

The effort connects to Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub: Minnesota and the Minnesota National Security Ecosystem. LEMA, a Minnesota expeditionary power company under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is also involved. Together the groups are exploring portable solar generation paired with on-site propellant production and testing.

Chromatic has been pushing industrial-quality additive manufacturing for advanced materials. If the Camp Ripley tests prove repeatable, the company moves closer to supplying tactical and strategic propulsion systems built from 3D-printed formulations.