What Rock West Composites does

Rock West Composites (legal entity Rock West Composites, Inc., California) is a private, employee-owned advanced composites manufacturer founded in 2006, headquartered at 7625 Panasonic Way, San Diego, and operating from four production sites — San Diego (AS9100D/ISO 9001:2015/Nadcap), West Jordan, Utah (27-spindle filament winding center, up to 6,000 billet tubes per month), Baja California, Mexico (AS9100D, cost-competitive volume production), and Allentown, Pennsylvania (added through the September 2023 acquisition of Performance Plastics, Inc., bringing metallic machining, forming, and bonding). Across these sites the company runs a 275,000+ square-foot footprint, maintains a library of 3,000+ mandrels, and employs roughly 360 employee-owners under an ESOP. Its core technology covers roll-wrapping, filament winding, pultrusion, pullbraiding, resin infusion, bladder molding, autoclave cure, precision assembly, and proprietary material systems, including the STRATO productized space-grade line using M55J/PMT-F33 cyanate ester and HR40/NB321 epoxy, the Apex CFRP cellular-core reflector panels, INFINITube telescoping systems, and the CARBONNect connection system.

The company serves five vertical segments — Aerospace & Defense, Space, Commercial Aircraft, Commercial Equipment (industrial, robotics, medical, energy, marine, sporting goods), and an E-commerce/DIY channel — through a dual go-to-market. The 24/7 ecommerce storefront at rockwestcomposites.com is one of the largest online catalogs of off-the-shelf carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar tubes, plates, rods, sandwich panels, raw materials, and connectors, with most stocked items historically shipping within 24 hours. The custom manufacturing division operates a quote-based, program-managed enterprise sales motion targeting prime contractors and government end-customers, with DCAA-approved rates for federal work. Revenue is generated from one-time unit sales of stock ecommerce SKUs, one-time sales of STRATO space-grade hardware with full certificate packages, and professional-services/contract revenue from custom design, engineering, prototyping, qualification, and production programs. Named end-users include Blue Origin, Boeing (Silver Performance Excellence Award recipient), Intuitive Machines (IM-1 lunar mission), NASA (PASS/OSAM, DiskSat), MDA / Canadian Space Agency (Canadarm3), CERN / Purdue (CMS detector, Gold Award), EOI Space, Astro Digital, The Aerospace Corporation, R4 Integration (military C-130 radomes), and Simpson Race Products (HANS safety devices). Customer process specification approvals are a key switching barrier, and the company is consistently certified AS9100D, ISO 9001:2015, and Nadcap for composites across primary facilities.

Management is led by CEO Jim Gormican, with CFO Christina Frederick, COO Victor Montoya, CSO Tom Preece, CMO James Johnson, EVP Keith Loss, SVP Programs AJ Sawyer, and President of Aircraft (and former PPI President) Jim Renaud. The leadership team averages 30+ years of composites industry experience. Reported historical growth is a 26% revenue CAGR over the ten years preceding 2023 and 60%+ revenue growth in 2022; the company declined to disclose specific revenue figures.

Name

Rock West Composites

Legal name

Rock West Composites, Inc.

Website

https://rockwestcomposites.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Rock West Composites is a private, employee-owned advanced composites manufacturer serving aerospace, defense, space, and commercial markets with both off-the-shelf carbon fiber materials via ecommerce and custom-engineered composite structures for prime contractors and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advanced Composite Materials

NAICS

Plate Work and Fabricated Structural Product Manufacturing (33231), Other Building Material Dealers (44418), Lumber, Plywood, Millwork, and Wood Panel Merchant Wholesalers (423310)

SIC

Wholesale-Lumber & Other Construction Materials (5030)

akta.pro primary industry

Composite Structures & Layup Manufacturing (IMABAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

FRP/GRP & Composite Materials (Resins, Fibers, Core Materials) (IMAJAKAC), Sandwich Panels & Core Materials (Foam, Balsa, Honeycomb) (IMAJAKAD)

Keywords

• Carbon fiber composites
• Composite manufacturing
• Aerospace structures
• Space-grade materials
• Custom composite parts

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Off-the-Shelf Ecommerce Products: Sale of carbon fiber tubes, plates, sandwich panels, rods, materials (fabrics, prepregs, resins, adhesives), vacuum bagging supplies, connectors, and accessories through online store. More than 94% of stocked items ship within 24 hours historically, with most items available within 4-6 weeks if not in stock.
2. Custom Manufacturing Services: Custom design, engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing of composite products for aerospace, defense, space, commercial aircraft, and industrial applications. Includes precision assembly, testing, and qualification services for government and commercial contracts.
3. Space-Ready STRATO Products: Space-grade standardized products with certificates including dimensional inspection, material certificates, traceability, and certificate of conformance. Includes options for full traveler verification, resin content testing, and short beam shear testing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rock West Composites manufactures and sells carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar composite material products—including tubes, plates, rods, sandwich panels, prepregs, fabrics, resins, and vacuum bagging supplies—through both a large ecommerce catalog of off-the-shelf items and a custom engineered structures division. The custom division builds radomes, frac plugs, HANS devices, space structures, and aerospace and defense components for prime contractors and government customers.

Product overview

Rock West Composites is an advanced composites company offering both off-the-shelf e-commerce products and custom manufacturing services. The product portfolio centers on composite materials including carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar tubes, plates, rods, and sandwich panels. Key product lines include STRATO (space-grade stock materials with 2-4 week lead times), INFINITube telescoping systems, CARBONNect connection systems, and custom radomes for aerospace. The company operates both a manufacturing division serving aerospace, defense, space, commercial equipment, and sporting markets, as well as one of the largest e-commerce suppliers of composite materials and off-the-shelf products. Manufacturing capabilities span development, tooling, layup/molding, cure, trim/machining, paint/coatings, assembly, testing, and inspection services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STRATO™: Space-grade product line including tubes, plates, sandwich panels, and solar array substrates for LEO, GEO, and deep space applications with properties like low outgassing, low-to-zero CTE, and wide operational temperature range.
• INFINITube
• CARBONNect™
• STRATOSubstrate

Products and services

• STRATO Space-Grade Product Line
• Carbon Fiber Tubes
• Fiberglass Tubes
• Kevlar Tubes
• INFINITube Telescoping Tubes
• Carbon Fiber Plates and Sheets
• Quasi-Isotropic Plates
• Carbon Fiber Angles and Channels
• Sandwich Panels
• Carbon Fiber Rods
• Fiberglass Rods
• Prepregs
• Composite Fabrics
• Resins and Adhesives
• Vacuum Bagging Supplies
• Core Materials
• Carbon Fiber Thermoplastics
• CARBONNect Connection System
• Custom Radomes
• Custom Frac Plugs
• Custom HANS Devices
• Custom Space Structures
• Custom Aerospace and Defense Structures
• Marine Composite Products Division

Quantifiable outcome

• Manufacturing trials showed lead times reduced from years to weeks for satellite reflectors
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Patz Materials and Technologies (PMT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2025Three-way partnership to develop lower-cost, reduced-labor approach for manufacturing lightweight high-modulus CFRP panels for small satellites. PMT provides expertise in composite materials and processing for the collaboration.
• A&P TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2025Three-way partnership developing Apex CFRP cellular core combined with QISO braided fabric skins for satellite reflectors. A&P provides QISO braided fabric technology for the collaboration.
• Performance Plastics, Inc. (Acquisition)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 September 2023Acquired assets of Performance Plastics, Inc. including staff (80 people), facility (50,000 sq ft), and equipment. PPI brings metallic manufacturing, machining, forming, and bonding capabilities plus customer process specification approvals and long-term supply agreements with prime contractors.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Hexcel Corporation: Hexcel is a leading global manufacturer of advanced composites and reinforcements serving aerospace, space, and defense primes — the same end customers as Rock West's STRATO and custom division. As a much larger incumbent with deeper process specification approvals at Boeing and Airbus, Hexcel is the dominant comparable for evaluating Rock West's competitive positioning in aerospace composites.
• Toray Composite Materials America: Toray produces carbon fiber and prepreg systems widely used in aerospace primary structures (Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and space applications. Toray is directly comparable to Rock West's prepreg/materials offerings and competes for the same prime contract slots that STRATO targets.
• Solvay Composite Materials: Solvay supplies advanced resin systems, prepregs, and adhesives to aerospace and space manufacturers globally. Its materials chemistry and qualification depth are directly analogous to Rock West's proprietary cyanate ester and epoxy systems used in STRATO.
• Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Composites: Mitsubishi Chemical produces carbon fiber tow, intermediates, and composite parts for aerospace, space, and industrial markets. The company overlaps directly with Rock West's STRATO carbon fiber tube and plate offerings and competes for the same space-grade material business.

Direct peers

• TPI Composites: TPI manufactures large composite structures, primarily wind turbine blades but also aerospace components. Like Rock West, TPI is a custom composites manufacturer serving industrial and aerospace customers with similar filament winding, layup, and molding capabilities at comparable scale.
• Plasan Carbon Composites: Plasan manufactures autoclave-cured carbon fiber composite parts for automotive and aerospace applications, including defense radomes. Plasan's autoclave cure, compression molding, and defense focus directly mirror Rock West's custom manufacturing capabilities for radomes, munitions, and unmanned systems.
• Axiom Materials: Axiom Materials is a specialty composites manufacturer producing prepregs, film adhesives, and custom composite parts for aerospace and space markets. The company's space-grade prepreg and cured structures portfolio overlaps directly with Rock West's STRATO material systems and custom layup work.
• Renegade Materials Corporation: Renegade Materials produces high-temperature and fire-resistant composite prepregs and parts for aerospace and defense. Its focus on qualified, specification-driven material systems makes it a close peer to Rock West's STRATO and Apex CFRP product lines targeting space and defense primes.
• Composite Resources (now part of Velocity Composites): Composite Resources manufactured aerospace composite kits, parts, and assemblies for military and commercial aircraft, with capabilities closely aligned to Rock West's PPI-acquired metal/composite bonding and assembly operations.

Others

• Composites One: Composites One is the largest North American distributor of composite materials (resins, fabrics, core materials) to fabricators. While not a direct competitor, it is an adjacent comparable for Rock West's ecommerce materials storefront and the broader composites supply chain ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RockWestComp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rock-west-composites

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rock West Composites