NextGen Aeronutics
NextGen Aeronautics is a privately held aerospace engineering firm that designs, fabricates, and tests UAVs, wind tunnel models, advanced sensors, and composite structures for U.S. defense agencies and major aerospace systems integrators.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersTorrance, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What NextGen Aeronutics does
NextGen Aeronautics is a privately held, California-incorporated aerospace engineering firm founded in 2002/2003 that provides design, fabrication, testing, and limited-rate production services for unmanned aerial systems, wind tunnel models, underwater vehicles, advanced sensors, and composite structures. The company operates from three U.S. facilities — Torrance, CA headquarters; an ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D-certified fabrication plant in Saint George, UT; and a research office in Danville, VA — and serves U.S. Department of Defense agencies (DARPA, Air Force, Navy, Army, AFRL) alongside major systems integrators (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman) and commercial aerospace and propulsion customers including AeroVironment, Embraer, Gulfstream, and Wright Electric.
The company's product and technology portfolio centers on a set of differentiated capabilities: proprietary miniature wireless sensors that monitor strain, temperature, and pressure via a secure IMS-band protocol; Carbon Nanotube-based artificial hair sensors for flow measurement; PVDF-TrFe dynamic sensors fabricated via novel Direct Acoustic Energy Deposition and FDM 3-D printing; structurally integrated antennas embedded in airframes; and morphing-structure smart-material technology. Flagship platforms include the 750-lb BASSET UAV developed under a $4M Phase III SBIR contract with AFRL, a Cognitive UAV cellular platform with autonomous wingtip-to-wingtip in-flight docking and a stated 15-day loiter at 60,000 ft, the backpackable SWIFT UAV, the SHARP Suit performance-monitoring wearable with 16 nine-axis IMUs operating at 1,200 Hz, the SWIFT System of up to 14 synchronized wireless IMUs, and biomimetic Underwater Unmanned Riverine Craft (UURC) propelled by undulating fins.
Revenue is generated through professional services contracts (DoD R&D and SBIR work, design and analysis, engineering consulting) and hardware sales (limited-rate UAV production and fabrication services), with a direct enterprise/government sales motion, custom project-based pricing, and AS9100D-enforced supplier terms. Headcount is in the 11-50 range, and the company has delivered more than 200 projects cumulatively across military and commercial programs.
NextGen Aeronutics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NextGen Aeronutics
- Legal name
- NextGen Aeronautics Inc.
- Website
- https://nextgenaero.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- NextGen Aeronautics is a privately held aerospace engineering firm that designs, fabricates, and tests UAVs, wind tunnel models, advanced sensors, and composite structures for U.S. defense agencies and major aerospace systems integrators.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NextGen Aeronutics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Aerospace Engineering Services
- NAICS
- Aircraft Manufacturing (336411), Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (336413), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing (33641)
- SIC
- Aircraft Parts & Auxiliary Equipment, Nec (3728), Aircraft & Parts (3720), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft (UAV) (IMABAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Special-Mission Fixed-Wing Aircraft Manufacturing (ISR, AEW&C, Patrol) (IMABAAAH), Avionics Test, Simulation & Calibration Equipment (IMABAFAN), NDT/Inspection & Testing Services (Aviation) (IMABALAJ), VTOL & Hybrid UAV Platforms (IMABAIAC)
Keywords
Where NextGen Aeronutics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Torrance
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
NextGen Aeronutics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Government R&D Contracts: Research and development contracts with DARPA, Air Force, Navy, Army, and other government agencies. Projects range from basic research to complete flight and underwater vehicle development.
- Commercial Aerospace Services: Design, analysis, fabrication and testing services for commercial aerospace customers including systems integrators and aircraft manufacturers.
- UAV Manufacturing: Fabrication and limited rate production of complete UAVs including wind tunnel models, flight vehicles, and custom prototypes.
- Engineering Consulting: Design and analysis services including finite element analysis, CFD, propulsion analysis, and mission performance analysis.
- SBIR Phase III Programs: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, such as the $4M Phase III SBIR with AFRL for BASSET UAV development.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
NextGen Aeronutics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NextGen Aeronautics provides specialized aerospace engineering services and products including the design, fabrication, and testing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), complex wind tunnel models, sensor systems, composite structures, and underwater vehicles. The company delivers complete end-to-end capabilities from conceptual design through flight testing for defense agencies and commercial aerospace customers.
Product overview
NextGen Aeronautics is an aerospace engineering firm offering a portfolio of specialized products and services for defense and commercial customers. The company provides wind tunnel models (design, fabrication, and testing of complex aeroelastic and instrumented models), UAV systems (morphing UAVs, backpackable UAVs like SWIFT, cellular Cognitive UAVs, BASSET UAV), underwater vehicles (biomimetic UURC), sensors and data acquisition (wireless sensors, IMUs, artificial hair sensors), and body-worn sensor systems (SHARP Suit, SWIFT System). These products are supported by design and analysis services (aircraft, hypersonic, hybrid-electric), fabrication services, and composite repair capabilities. The company operates from facilities in Torrance, CA, Saint George, UT, and Danville, VA, serving DARPA, Air Force, Navy, Army, and major systems integrators.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SHARP Suit: Performance monitoring tool worn underneath a uniform with embedded 16 nine-axis IMUs for warfighter optimization.
- SWIFT System
- BASSET
- Cognitive UAV
- SWIFT UAV
Products and services
- Wind Tunnel Models Design, fabrication, and testing of complex wind tunnel models including rigid models, dynamically scaled models, instrumented and actuated models, large aeroelastic models with integrated fiber optics, flutter suppression models, force models, and morphing UAV models for aerospace customers.
- UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Development of unique UAV systems including morphing UAVs, UAVs with Structure Integrated Antennas, backpackable UAVs, and biomimetic UAVs, from wind tunnel models to flight demonstration vehicles for defense and commercial customers.
- Sensors and Data Acquisition Sensor development including miniature wireless sensors for strain, temperature, pressure monitoring; multiplexed strain sensor arrays; robotic damage monitoring devices; wireless 9-Axis IMU sensors; Artificial Hair Sensors using Carbon Nanotubes; PVDF-TrFe dynamic sensors; and miniature DAQ for flight testing.
- Design and Analysis Services Comprehensive engineering services spanning conceptual to detailed design of subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic aircraft and missiles, including aircraft with laser weapons, novel propulsion systems (RDEs), hypersonic missiles, hybrid-electric aircraft, and mission performance analysis using FEA, CFD, and propulsion analysis.
- Fabrication Services Full-service prototyping and manufacturing including CNC machining, composite layups, tool and mold design, precision assembly, and full system testing. Specializes in sophisticated wind tunnel models, flight vehicles, deep-sea pressure vessels and robotic systems from the AS9100D certified Saint George, UT facility.
- Aircraft Design Aircraft conceptual design and performance analysis services including hypersonic flight vehicle design, hybrid electric commercial jets, commercial cargo aircraft, and large/small scale UAVs (10-1,000 lbs) for clients including AFRL, Boeing, AeroVironment, Wright Electric.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 200 projects completed since founding in 2003
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use NextGen Aeronutics
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
NextGen Aeronutics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
NextGen Aeronutics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AeroVironmentcoreNextGen provides critical fabrication and assembly support to partner AeroVironment at their Utah facility. This is a significant co-production relationship where NextGen serves as a key supplier for AeroVironment's UAV manufacturing needs.
- NASA LangleycoreNextGen has tested over a dozen aeroelastic wind tunnel models at the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamic wind Tunnel (TDT). Testing included large aeroelastic models with integrated fiber optics and traditional sensors, and flutter suppression models.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
NextGen Aeronutics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions: Kratos is a publicly traded defense prime with target-drone and tactical jet UAS franchises, plus the ground-floor drone business that absorbs many of the same AFRL/SBIR dollars NextGen competes for. Comparable adjacent competition rather than direct capability overlap.
- AeroVironment: AeroVironment is both a NextGen customer (Utah co-production) and a broader defense small-UAS incumbent producing Switchblade, Puma, and Raven at scale. Overlaps significantly on small-UAS platform delivery and DoD end customers, but operates at vastly larger scale and as a serial prime.
Direct peers
- Dynetics (Leidos subsidiary): Dynetics built a defense/aerospace R&D portfolio spanning hypersonic strike, missile design, and advanced sensors — directly adjacent to NextGen's hypersonic vehicle, RDE, and sensor work — before being acquired by Leidos for exactly the kind of scale and platform extension NextGen could become a target for.
- Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing subsidiary): Aurora is the closest direct peer — a small-headcount aerospace R&D shop specializing in morphing structures, small UAVs, autonomous flight, and high-fidelity wind-tunnel/composite work, now absorbed into Boeing. Nearly identical capability set and customer roster to NextGen Aeronautics.
- Swift Engineering: Swift Engineering is a comparable California-based aerospace engineering firm specializing in UAV design, hypersonic and high-speed vehicle development, and composite fabrication for defense primes — directly mirroring NextGen's design-to-fabrication model.
- Area-I (General Atomics subsidiary): Area-I was a small-headcount UAV R&D shop with deep AFRL/DARPA ties and niche UAS platforms until its acquisition by General Atomics. Closely matches NextGen's profile of small-team, high-IP-content UAV development for defense customers.
- Insitu (Boeing subsidiary): Insitu pioneered small tactical UAS for U.S. and allied militaries and was absorbed into Boeing for unmanned systems scale. Comparable in the small-UAS/sensor-payload niche where NextGen's SWIFT UAV competes.
- Prioria Robotics: Prioria is a small autonomous-UAS company that developed the Maveric and Hex+ platforms for defense and commercial inspection. Comparable scale and similar defense-targeted small-UAV engineering business model.
Emerging players
- Persistent Systems (MPU5): Persistent Systems builds tactical mesh-networked sensor and communications systems for warfighters, with significant overlap to NextGen's SHARP Suit and SWIFT sensing product lines in the warfighter-monitoring and field-deployable sensor segments.
Others
- Tyonek Native Corporation: Tyonek is a tribally owned aerospace services and manufacturing company supporting DoD primes with fabrication, electronics, and sustainment. Comparable AS9100D-capable, DoD-subcontract manufacturing services role to NextGen's Saint George, Utah fabrication function.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
NextGen Aeronutics social profiles
Digital presenceNextGen Aeronutics compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
NextGen Aeronutics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NextGen Aeronutics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
NextGen Aeronutics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NextGen Aeronutics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NextGen Aeronutics
What does NextGen Aeronutics do?
NextGen Aeronautics provides specialized aerospace engineering services and products including the design, fabrication, and testing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), complex wind tunnel models, sensor systems, composite structures, and underwater vehicles. The company delivers complete end-to-end capabilities from conceptual design through flight testing for defense agencies and commercial aerospace customers.
Is NextGen Aeronutics a public or private company?
NextGen Aeronutics is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was NextGen Aeronutics founded?
NextGen Aeronutics was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NextGen Aeronutics based?
NextGen Aeronutics is headquartered in Torrance, United States, in the North America region.
How does NextGen Aeronutics make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Government R&D Contracts are the primary driver. The others are commercial Aerospace Services, UAV Manufacturing, engineering Consulting and SBIR Phase III Programs.
Who are NextGen Aeronutics's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and AeroVironment. Direct peers are Dynetics (Leidos subsidiary), Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing subsidiary), Swift Engineering, Area-I (General Atomics subsidiary), Insitu (Boeing subsidiary) and Prioria Robotics. Persistent Systems (MPU5) is listed as an emerging player. Tyonek Native Corporation is listed as an others.
Does NextGen Aeronutics have an API?
No public API is recorded for NextGen Aeronutics.
What industry is NextGen Aeronutics in?
NextGen Aeronutics's product category is Aerospace Engineering Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABAIAB, Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft (UAV), with a secondary code of IMABAAAH, Special-Mission Fixed-Wing Aircraft Manufacturing (ISR, AEW&C, Patrol). Its NAICS code is 336411 and its SIC code is 3728.