Established in 1946 as the Guided Projectile Establishment (latterly referred to as Royal Ordnance) under the Ministry of Supply, Westcott rapidly became a key site for the research and development of solid and liquid propulsion within the UK.
Today Nammo Westcott, which became part of the Nammo group in 2017, is a major supplier of chemical propulsion to the key spacecraft manufacturers. Our rocket engines and thrusters serve commercial, defence and science markets. In 2016 it was a Nammo Westcott engine that provided the insertion burn to allow NASA’s JUNO spacecraft to successfully enter into orbit around Jupiter.
Nammo Westcott currently has 22 employees and has development, production and test activities in the following areas:
- Hypergolic Bipropellant Apogee Engines
- Hypergolic Bipropellant Attitude Control System Thrusters
- Monopropellant Attitude Control System Thrusters
- Chemical Propulsion Subsystems and components
- Rocket Engine Test Services
Westcott’s manufacturing facilities include a 1,000 sqf (95 m2) Class 8 Cleanroom, a 140kV Electron Beam Welding facility, Orbital TIG and Vacuum Braze. The test facilities in lude 2 High Altitude and 1 Sea Level Test Facilities as well a Environmental test equipment.
The main product line consists of the LEROS-family of chemical thrusters. The Westcott range of engines has been used for In-Space Propulsion since the mid 90s. With over 50 flown missions for the LEROS Apogee Engine family and 100 flown missions for the LEROS RCS Thrusters, Nammo Westcott is a market leader in chemical propulsion for missions throughout the solar system.
National Space Propulsion Facility
The Nammo Westcott site hosts the UK National Space Propulsion Facility which is being built in cooperation with the UK Space Agency. It will include a new vacuum test facility operated by Nammo personnel on the Nammo test site and will allow propulsion system testing at simulated in-space conditions. In addition to supporting Nammo’s test and verification efforts, the the National Space Propulsion Facility will also be available to other parts of the space industry, as well as academic research institutions.
