Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Andrew Coors, Founder & CEO of Steelhead Composites, to discuss composite pressure vessels. Steelhead manufactures lightweight, high-strength composite overwrapped pressure vessels for aerospace, space, defense, and other demanding applications. The conversation covers how these tanks are built and tested, where they are used, and why supply chain capacity for this category is becoming strategically important.
Timestamped Overview
00:00 – Introduction to Steelhead Composites and overview of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) and why lightweight pressure storage matters in aerospace and space.
01:16 – Core use cases for the tanks, including oxygen for military aircraft, xenon, argon, and krypton for satellite propulsion, and gases used in launch systems.
03:05 – Why pressure vessels are more critical and more common than most people realize, and why testing and reliability dominate the business.
07:06 – Discussion of Apollo 13, liquid oxygen versus compressed-gas systems, and why Steelhead focuses on high-pressure ambient-temperature applications rather than cryogenic tanks.
08:40 – Overview of certification and validation testing, including burst, cycle, bonfire, gunfire, drop, impact, flaw, and environmental tests.
12:10 – Why large customers usually do not build these tanks in-house, and how testing infrastructure and manufacturing know-how create barriers to entry.
14:20 – How Steelhead’s products extend beyond space into underwater systems, scuba, robotics, automotive suspension, and maritime racing.
18:08 – FCC-driven demand for active satellite deorbiting and how demisable tank designs support end-of-life spacecraft operations and reentry safety.
25:08 – Tank size range, common product classes, and why custom sizes and pressures create significant certification time and cost.
28:10 – How the tanks are manufactured, from seamless aluminum liners and spin forming to CNC filament winding and lightweight optimization.
32:17 – Product variety, installed base, and discussion of robustness, drop resistance, safety standards, and specialized testing for oxygen systems.
38:05 – Tank life cycles, cycle testing, leak-before-burst behavior, and how refill logistics work across different gases and end markets.
42:16 – Defense applications including composite rocket motor casings, hypersonic systems, interceptors, and the shift toward space defense and missile demand.
46:18 – Scaling strategy, RFP volume, production economics, lead times, and the main bottlenecks in filament winding and testing capacity.
55:18 – Closing reflections on the condition of the U.S. industrial base, Steelhead’s role in rebuilding manufacturing capacity, and the company’s outlook.
