Element U.S. Space & Defense

What Element U.S. Space & Defense does

Element U.S. Space & Defense is a privately held U.S. government testing services division of Element Materials Technology, operating six specialized facilities across Belcamp (MD), Camden (AR), Fullerton (CA), Orlando (FL), Rustburg (VA), and Santa Clarita (CA). The business traces its origins to 1961 as NTS (National Technical Systems) and was rebranded to its current name following Element Materials Technology's acquisition of NTS, retaining six facilities as a dedicated defense and government-facing operating division. The company delivers environmental simulation, EMI/EMC compliance, dynamics and vibration, acoustic, pyroshock, thermal vacuum, hypersonic, and Navy shipboard shock qualification testing for U.S. federal agencies and defense/aerospace primes. Notable technical assets include 80,000 lbf dual shaker systems, thermal vacuum chambers up to 10 feet in diameter achieving 1×10⁻⁸ TORR, a 36-acre Rustburg quarry site with Floating Shock Platforms for MIL-DTL-901E testing, and a hypersonic simulation capability reaching 4,000°F thermal exposure. The company holds CMMC Level 2 (C3PAO), ISO/IEC 17025, NAVSEA Shock Certified, and Verizon Independent Test Laboratory (NEBS) accreditations.

The business model is professional-services based: project-by-project engagements priced via quote through the LabInsight customer portal, executed under multi-year contracts with dedicated program managers supporting each customer. Customers include NASA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, L3Harris, Anduril, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, and Firefly Aerospace, with the Defense and Space verticals representing primary segments and Telecommunications, Transportation, and IoT/Electronics as secondary segments. Go-to-market is exclusively direct enterprise field sales with no reseller or distributor channel, supported by technical content marketing, MIL-STD training seminars, and industry conference participation. Recent strategic moves include a 2026 partnership with Leonardo DRS to expand Navy EMI testing capacity, CMMC Level 2 certification, and the 2026 commissioning of a new thermal vacuum chamber with a next-generation chamber planned for 2028.

Name

Element U.S. Space & Defense

Legal name

Element U.S. Space & Defense

Website

https://elementdefense.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Element U.S. Space & Defense is a privately held U.S. government testing division of Element Materials Technology that delivers environmental, EMI/EMC, thermal vacuum, hypersonic, and Navy shock qualification testing across six U.S. facilities for federal agencies and defense and aerospace primes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Defense & Aerospace Testing Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Testing Laboratories and Services (541380), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Spacecraft Integration, Assembly & Test (IAT) (IMABACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Avionics Test, Simulation & Calibration Equipment (IMABAFAN), Military Aerospace Ground Support Equipment (GSE) & Test Systems (IMABAMAL), Naval Training, Simulation & Shore-Based Test Facilities (IMAJABAN)

Keywords

• Environmental testing services
• EMI EMC compliance testing
• Space simulation testing
• Military qualification testing
• Defense aerospace testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Calabasas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Testing Services: Professional testing services including environmental simulation, EMI/EMC testing, dynamics and vibration testing, acoustic testing, shock testing, thermal vacuum testing, and hypersersonic simulation. Revenue generated through project-based testing engagements with government agencies and defense contractors.
2. Engineering Services: Engineering analysis and consulting services including EMC control plans, EMI product design review, design hardening, and multi-body dynamics analysis using MSC Adams software.
3. Navy Equipment Qualification Testing: Specialized turnkey Navy qualification solutions including pre-shock test analysis, design and fabrication of equipment foundations, test instrumentation, data analysis and report generation for MIL-DTL-901E and MIL-STD-167 compliance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Element U.S. Space & Defense provides advanced testing and engineering services for mission-critical space, defense, and aerospace programs through six U.S. testing facilities. Core offerings include environmental simulation, EMI/EMC compliance, dynamics and vibration, hypersonic simulation, thermal vacuum, pyroshock, acoustic, fuel icing, hydraulics, and Navy shipboard shock qualification testing under MIL-STD, DO-160, NEBS, and other military/aerospace standards. Services are delivered through a quote-based, custom project engagement model supported by the LabInsight customer portal.

Product overview

Element U.S. Space & Defense is a government testing partner offering advanced testing and engineering services through six dedicated facilities (Belcamp, Camden, Fullerton, Orlando, Rustburg, and Santa Clarita). The company provides a comprehensive portfolio of testing services including environmental simulation, space simulation, EMI/EMC testing, dynamics and acoustics, hypersonic simulation, hydraulics testing, pyroshock simulation, and Navy equipment qualification testing. The flagship service is space simulation testing using thermal vacuum chambers, complemented by EMI/EMC compliance services across multiple standards. The customer-facing LabInsight portal provides real-time access to program data and reports. Services span military, aerospace, and commercial compliance testing for mission-critical programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LabInsight: An online customer portal providing real-time access to program information, test reports, data, documents, and procurement status. Available since 2006.

Products and services

• Environmental Simulation Services Comprehensive environmental testing including temperature/humidity chambers, combined environmental temperature and vibration facilities, and temperature/altitude chambers covering extreme conditions from -70°F to +350°F for defense and aerospace equipment qualification.
• Space Simulation Testing Thermal vacuum testing using chambers up to 10 feet in diameter handling temperature extremes from -320°F to 1,000°F with combined ambient pressures of 1×10⁻⁸ TORR, supporting satellite, flight electronics, sensor, and payload qualification in an ISO 8 cleanroom environment.
• Dynamics and Acoustics Testing Over a dozen electrodynamic shaker systems with ratings up to 80,000 lbf supporting random, swept sine, sine burst, sine-on-random, and random-on-random vibration profiles, complemented by four reverberation chambers and four progressive wave tubes achieving 167 dB reverberant and 174+ dB progressive wave tube levels with 100+ instrumentation channels.
• Hypersonic Simulation Advanced hypersonic testing including material coupon and full-scale testing, thermal exposure testing up to 4,000°F, high mass flow of hot air testing, and variable air pressure environments ranging from vacuum to elevated pressure for hypersonic weapons and aerospace systems qualification.
• Hydraulics Testing High-pressure hydraulic testing up to 10,000 PSI and 40 GPM using multiple Skydrol mules, including complex custom fuel test setups ranging from 1 to 100+ GPM with high aromatic contents for aerospace fuel system qualification.
• Pyroshock Simulation Pyroshock testing including classical shock (half-sine, terminal peak sawtooth, trapezoidal), shock response spectrum (SRS) 10Hz-20 kHz, true ordnance, and Mechanically Induced Pyroshock Simulator (MIPS) capabilities with spacecraft MIPS capable of exciting three axes simultaneously and supporting >1,000 pound payloads.
• EMI/EMC Testing Services Industry-leading electromagnetic compatibility and interference engineering and compliance services with the largest EMI testing laboratory network in North America, supporting FCC, CE, MIL-STD-461/462, RTCA DO-160, NEBS, and other standards for defense, aerospace, telecom, medical, and commercial electronics.
• Acoustic Testing Four reverberation chambers and four progressive wave tubes providing reverberant sound levels to 167 dB and progressive wave tube capability to 174+ dB for acoustic qualification of aerospace and defense hardware.
• Fuel Icing and Contamination Testing

Quantifiable outcome

• Trusted by leading organizations & government agencies including NASA, US Army, US Navy, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers26 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Leonardo DRScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 July 2026Element U.S. Space & Defense and Leonardo DRS struck a strategic agreement to expand critical EMI testing capabilities for U.S. Navy systems. The partnership enhances testing capacity for Navy defense systems requiring EMI/EMC compliance.
• Texas Tech UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Texas Tech University for an innovative propellant ignition study. Academic collaboration for research and development in aerospace testing.
• Smithsonian Institution / Met CloistersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerElement's Chesapeake (now part of Element) Non-destructive Imaging Laboratory assisted the Smithsonian in digital exploration of medieval boxwood sculptures using micro CT scanning technology for the 'Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures' exhibition.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bureau Veritas: Global TIC incumbent with aerospace and defense testing services. Comparable on EMI/EMC, DO-160, and environmental qualification, with overlap in aerospace primes though broader in industrial verticals.
• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions: Defense technology company with significant test and evaluation operations serving DoD. Comparable on tactical and space-related test systems, though broader across unmanned systems and C5ISR.
• Element Materials Technology: Global testing, inspection, and certification parent company. Directly comparable as the umbrella platform; overlap in EMI/EMC, environmental, and materials testing across aerospace and defense, though Element US S&D is its U.S. government-focused subset.
• Intertek: Global TIC (testing, inspection, certification) provider with aerospace and defense testing services. Overlaps with Element on EMI/EMC, environmental qualification, and component testing, though serves a broader commercial-industrial base.
• SGS: One of the world's largest TIC companies with aerospace testing capabilities. Comparable in commercial EMC, environmental, and qualification testing for defense and aerospace OEMs, though mostly outside U.S. defense classified work.

Direct peers

• Marvin Test Solutions: Specialized provider of test and measurement solutions for aerospace, defense, and semiconductor customers. Overlaps on MIL-STD testing and mission-critical qualification work.
• Eurofins MET Labs: U.S.-based commercial EMC and product safety testing laboratory. Direct overlap in MIL-STD-461, DO-160, FCC/CE compliance testing for defense and aerospace customers.
• National Technical Systems (NTS): Legacy predecessor organization; Element US S&D's six facilities trace directly to the former NTS Technical Systems. Highly comparable historical footprint and customer base.
• Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions: Operates test and measurement solutions for defense, aerospace, and naval customers, including shock and vibration test systems. Highly comparable on MIL-STD and shipboard shock testing capabilities.

Emerging players

• Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA): Engineering services and test management provider supporting NASA, DoD, and commercial space. Comparable in space systems testing and dynamics analysis, though smaller and more niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nts
• Facebookfacebook.com/National.Technical.Systems
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nts

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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

M&A6 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Element U.S. Space & Defense