OUR DEVELOPMENT LOOP
Our capabilities cover the full development cycle, so we can move quickly from simulation to experiment and back again, learning at every step.
OUR APPLICATIONS
Space
We help partners tackle the conditions spacecraft face in orbit, from debris impacts to radiation events like solar flares.
We recreate those conditions here on Earth so partners can test materials, systems and spacecraft protection before anything launches.
VIPER
VIPER is our hypervelocity offering. Using an engineered target, it pushes existing test equipment to higher velocities, letting partners reach the space-relevant impact speeds that were previously out of reach.
Texas A&M Space Institute chose VIPER for its hypervelocity research.
OUR APPLICATIONS
Defence
We help partners meet the extreme conditions defence systems have to withstand: hypersonics, shock, extreme pressure and radiation.
We pair physical testing with advanced modelling and diagnostics, so results are measured precisely and compared against predicted behaviour. This gives partners the data to understand performance, validate their models, and shape the next stage of development.
We work with leading UK defence organisations, applying our extreme-environment capability to research programmes of national importance.
Our facilities: test and validate at the extremes
FOR EXTREME PRESSURE AND COMPRESSION
Machine 3: Europe’s largest pulsed power facility
Machine 3 (M3) is one of the largest pulsed power facilities in the world, and the largest in Europe. It uses extreme electromagnetic forces to generate immense pressures – ideal for compression and implosion testing, and for studying how materials behave under the most extreme conditions.
- Peak current 10 MA
- Projectile velocity 14 mk/s
- Projectile acceleration 1 billion g
FOR HIGH VELOCITY IMPACT
The BFG: The UK’s biggest two-stage light-gas gun
The BFG is the highest-energy projectile launcher in the UK. It fires a 38mm metal-tipped projectile into a target chamber with real precision, reaching the velocities and pressures that make it ideal for high-velocity impact testing.
It complements Machine 3 by reaching a different range of pressures and velocities, giving us and our partners a broader experimental reach.
- Impact pressure 80 GPa
- Maximum impact velocity 7 km/s
- Hydrogen pressure 10,000 bar
Modelling and simulation
Some things are too extreme, too fast, or too expensive to test in the real world. That’s where our modelling comes in.
We build detailed simulations of what happens under the most demanding conditions. This lets our partners understand how their systems will behave before they ever build or test them, giving them answers where real-world testing is difficult, costly or impossible.
Our modelling helps solve problems like:
- How a hypersonic vehicle survives extreme speed and heat
- How armour holds up under impact
- How materials perform under extreme shock and temperature
Behind it is decades of physics and engineering expertise, our own purpose-built software, and AI that continually sharpens our models against real experimental data – so the predictions can be trusted
And because it runs on high-performance computing, we can go from a single precise simulation to thousands in parallel, exploring every possibility and giving our partners confidence in the answer.
