West Coast Solutions

What West Coast Solutions does

West Coast Solutions (legal entity Wecoso Inc., dba WCS) is a privately held U.S. aerospace and defense small business founded in June 2015 by Dr. Carl Kirkconnell and headquartered at 17682 Gothard Street, Huntington Beach, California. The company operates as an enterprise B2B engineering services and flight hardware vendor serving NASA (including JPL), the Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Marine Corps, the Department of Defense, the Aerospace Corporation, the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory, and select commercial partners such as Creare LLC and American Lithium Energy. It holds AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certifications and was named JPL Small Business of the Year in 2024.

WCS organizes its technology portfolio into three core lines: Aerospace Electronics (radiation-tolerant to radiation-hard focal plane electronics, power supply units, flow sensor electronics, and precision pointing mechanism controllers); Cryogenic Systems (miniature cryocooler control electronics with active vibration cancellation, ripple filters, the SmallSat Stirling Cryocooler (SSC-X), and cryocooler integration and qualification services); and Space & Tactical Power (the Hybrid Battery Supercapacitor (HBS), Lightweight Expeditionary Power System (LEPS), Stirling Convertor Space Controller (SCSC), Battlefield Airman Battery, and Ultra-Compact UPS). The company operates its own Space Hardware Manufacturing Lab (commissioned February 2023) and has flight hardware currently on-orbit or manifested on at least four NASA missions, including ARCSTONE (June 2025), HyTI/HyTI-2, EXCITE, and SBG.

The business model combines project-based, multi-year professional engineering services (firmware, electrical, mechanical, software, and program management) with niche hardware product sales. Revenue is generated via direct enterprise sales into government agencies and prime contractors, supplemented by non-dilutive SBIR/STTR funding (Phase II and Phase II-E from USMC, MDA, and Air Force). Pricing is quote-driven and contract-based, with no publicly disclosed tiers. The firm is founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investors or parent company, and employs 11-50 people across its single Huntington Beach facility.

Name

West Coast Solutions

Legal name

Wecoso Inc.

Website

https://wecoso.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

West Coast Solutions is a privately held Huntington Beach-based aerospace and defense firm providing radiation-hardened electronics, cryocooler control systems, and expeditionary power hardware to NASA, DoD agencies, and aerospace prime contractors. It delivers custom engineering services and flight hardware, including the HBS battery and LEPS power system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aerospace Electronics & Cryogenics

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Other Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (336419), Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (336414)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812), Guided Missiles & Space Vehicles & Parts (3760), Aircraft Parts & Auxiliary Equipment, Nec (3728)

akta.pro primary industry

Military Power Supplies, RF/Microwave Components & Ruggedized Electronics (IMABAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD), Space Structures, Mechanisms & Thermal Control (IMABACAF)

Keywords

• Aerospace electronics
• Space hardware
• Radiation-hardened electronics
• Cryogenic systems
• Tactical power systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Huntington Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Engineering Services: Provides comprehensive engineering services from concept through hardware realization including firmware, electrical, mechanical, and software engineering led by program managers. Services span aerospace electronics, cryogenic systems, and power solutions.
2. Space Hardware Products: Develops and delivers niche flight hardware including cryocoolers, power electronics, battery systems, and control electronics for space and defense applications. Products include HBS, LEPS, SCSC, and cryocooler subsystems.
3. Cryogenic System Integration: Cryocooler selection, integration, and testing services for space and tactical applications including vibration testing, thermal vacuum testing, and system qualification

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

West Coast Solutions designs, develops, and delivers niche aerospace and defense hardware products and custom engineering services across three technology areas: radiation-tolerant to radiation-hard aerospace electronics (focal plane electronics, power supply units, flow sensor electronics, pointing mechanism controllers), cryogenic systems (cryocooler control electronics and ripple filters for space infrared sensors), and space & tactical power (high-power-density hybrid battery supercapacitors, Stirling Convertor space controllers, lightweight expeditionary power systems). Offerings are sold primarily to government agencies and aerospace prime contractors, supported by AS9100D-certified manufacturing and a multidisciplinary engineering team.

Product overview

West Coast Solutions offers a portfolio of specialized aerospace and defense technology products organized into three core technology areas: Aerospace Electronics, Cryogenic Systems, and Space & Tactical Power. The Aerospace Electronics division provides focal plane electronics suites, power supply units, and sensor control electronics. The Cryogenic Systems division delivers cryocooler controllers, vibration filters, and cryocooler engineering services. The Space & Tactical Power division manufactures hybrid batteries, Stirling controllers, and expeditionary power systems. Products include the Focal Plane Electronics (FPE) Suite, Airborne PSU, Flow Sensor Electronics (FSE), Precision Mirror Mechanism Pointing Electronics (PMMCE), NASA EXCITE Flight Cryocooler Controllers, Cryocooler Ripple Filters, Stirling Convertor Space Controller (SCSC), Hybrid Battery Supercapacitor (HBS), Lightweight Expeditionary Power System (LEPS), Battlefield Airman Battery, Ultra-Compact Uninterruptible Power Supply (U-CUPS), and SmallSat Stirling Cryocooler (SSC-X). The company provides engineering services alongside its product portfolio, spanning from concept development through flight hardware delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Focal Plane Electronics (FPE) Suite Three-module analog, power supply, and digital interface electronics suite for NASA JPL space imaging missions, including Analog Focal Plane Interface Electronics (FPIE), FPIE Power Supply Unit (PSU), and digital Interface Instrument Electronics (IIE) with FPGA (RTG4)-enabled high-speed data pipe, closed-loop payload heater control, and payload power distribution.
• Airborne Focal Plane Power Supply Units (PSU) Power supply units designed for airborne flight experiments, generating five positive and two negative outputs with low AC noise (<30mV pk-pk), high precision (+/- 2%), and up to 6A loads, with discrete output control, output regulation telemetry, short-circuit protection, and inrush current protection.
• Flow Sensor Electronics (FSE) Radiation-hard flight electronics with precision signal conditioning and communications for Creare's MEMS oxygen flow sensor used in the NASA PLSS space suit project.
• Precision Mirror Mechanism Pointing Electronics (PMMCE) Control electronics for a high-precision pointing mechanism for USAF Next Generation OPIR missions, featuring dual high-speed ADC channels, FPGA and firmware, and dual motor drive circuits.
• NASA EXCITE Flight Cryocooler Controllers Control electronics for the NASA EXCITE high-altitude balloon-borne near-infrared spectrometer, supporting Thales LPT 9310 cryocoolers with active vibration cancellation designed for the cost and robustness balance required for balloon missions.
• Cryocooler Ripple Filters High-performance filters that mitigate low-frequency current ripple from Stirling or pulse tube cryocoolers, available in airborne and space (radiation-tolerant) designs from 50W to 600W with high efficiency, low noise, and high reliability, addressing CE-101 EMI compliance challenges.
• Hybrid Battery Supercapacitor (HBS) High-power-density hybrid battery providing >700W sustained power from a 1U (1000 cc) form factor, with 150 Wh energy capacity, >30,000 cycle life, and radiation-tolerant design targeting SmallSat advanced propulsion, lasercom, high data rate downlink, IR sensors, SAR, and directed energy applications.
• Lightweight Expeditionary Power System (LEPS) Military-rugged power scavenging, energy storage, and power supply system with 2 kW power handling capacity and up to 3 kWh of advanced lithium-ion battery storage, supporting solar (4x500W channels), AC (1200W), and DC inputs with regulated 28V output, modular and scalable from 1 to 10 kW.
• Stirling Convertor Space Controller (SCSC) Self-contained, space-compatible, radiation-hardened electronic controller for Stirling Convertors, including circuitry for startup, transient, steady-state, and shutdown operations, battery charging control, dual resistive shunt controllers, and vibration measurement and cancellation.
• Battlefield Airman Battery Compact battery packaging for high-power military applications with thermal management using phase change material, supporting 450W discharge up to 65°C baseplate temperature using custom 18650 cells in 9S2P format.
• Ultra-Compact Uninterruptible Power Supply (U-CUPS) Compact uninterruptible power supply system designed for military and tactical applications.
• SmallSat Stirling Cryocooler (SSC-X) Next generation, very high-frequency Stirling cryocooler for space infrared sensing applications targeting SmallSat platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• >700W sustained power from 1U (1000 cc) hybrid battery - 2-3X higher power density than competing technologies
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Georgia Institute of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Teamed with Georgia Tech on 3-year NASA ESI Program to develop next generation regenerative heat exchanger technology enabling 150W @ 90K and 20W @ 20K for linear cryocoolers. WCS provides system modeling and boundary conditions for CFD efforts.
• Creare LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership with Creare for cryocooler control electronics including Miniature Cryocooler Control Electronics (MCCE) and Cryocooler Active Ripple Filter (CARF). Delivered flight hardware for HyTI mission and continued collaboration on multiple programs including ARCSTONE Observatory.
• Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Teamed with HSFL since 2018 as Cryocooler Systems Engineering Team on HyTI mission. WCS leads cryocooler selection, integration support, and provides test support from Huntington Beach laboratory and onsite at HSFL. Continued partnership for HyTI-2 mission under NASA InVEST program.
• CrearecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContracted by Creare to develop power and signal conditioning electronics for oxygen flow sensor for NASA PLSS space suit project. Developed radiation hard flight electronics for the MEMS flow sensor.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Creare LLC: R&D engineering firm specializing in cryocoolers, fluid systems, and aerospace electronics. Strategic partner with WCS on cryocooler control electronics (MCCE, CARF) for NASA missions including HyTI and ARCSTONE Observatory, with very similar size, customer base (NASA/DoD), and business model.
• Innoflight: Small business specializing in radiation-hardened space electronics, avionics, and cyber-secure payload subsystems for DoD and NASA. Highly comparable as a Southern California-based, SBIR-experienced space electronics supplier serving similar mission-critical customers.
• SEAKR Engineering: Designer and manufacturer of advanced space electronics and payload processors for satellites, with strong heritage on NASA and DoD missions. Directly comparable mission profile in space-qualified electronics for EO/IR and science missions.
• Iris Technology Group: Small aerospace engineering services and product development firm where WCS founder Dr. Kirkconnell previously served as CTO. Highly comparable business model, size, customer base (DoD/NASA), and product mix spanning space electronics, cryogenics, and tactical power.
• Honeybee Robotics: Specialty aerospace mechanisms and thermal control subsystems supplier with deep NASA/DoD heritage. Comparable as a small-business space hardware provider delivering mission-critical subsystems including thermal and motion-control products.

Broad incumbents

• Raytheon Technologies: WCS founder's former employer and a dominant aerospace prime in space electronics, radiation-hardened components, and defense power systems. Competes broadly across WCS's mission space, particularly for DoD and MDA programs.
• Northrop Grumman: Major aerospace prime with space electronics, cryocoolers (legacy acquired from Raytheon), and tactical power systems divisions. Competes with WCS on larger space electronics programs and Stirling cryocooler electronics, particularly for OPIR-class missions.
• Honeywell Aerospace: Large aerospace prime with significant space electronics, radiation-hardened components, and mission-critical control systems portfolios. Overlaps with WCS in space power electronics and inertial/pointing control.
• Ball Aerospace: Major space hardware prime producing spacecraft buses, instruments, and cryocoolers (via its acquisition of Ball Aerospace's cryocooler heritage). Competes for NASA science missions and IR sensing programs similar to WCS's customer base.

Others

• SRI International: Non-profit R&D institute with a significant space engineering division working on cryocoolers, space electronics, and DoD programs. Comparable in deep technical specialization and government contracting approach, though structured as a non-profit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@westcoastsolutions7059
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/west-coast-solutions

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about West Coast Solutions