Atec, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture, construction and maintenance of precision components, large fabrications, systems and facilities. Atec provides solutions for low to medium volume requirements involving engine test, aero support equipment, spaceflight components, and energy service products. Over 20,000 Atec products have been used by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

and others, including the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

. Atec was named

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Small Business Subcontractor of the Year for 2016, in recognition of contributions to NASA and

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

Manned Spaceflight Programs.

History

Atec was founded in 1953 as Accurate Instrument Co. and was officially incorporated in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on July 13, 1956. Accurate Instrument Co. primarily manufactured instrumentation for the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

industry. Some notable products included a standard day instrument (used to provide automated correlations to standard sea level atmospheric conditions), signal generators, frequency counters,

oscillators Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

, and pressure test sets. In the 1960s, Accurate Instrument Co. was renamed Atec, Inc., in concert with a shift from custom instrumentation to aerospace and energy equipment, such as

hush house A hush house is an enclosed, noise-suppressed facility used for testing aircraft systems, including propulsion, mechanics, electronics, pneumatics, and others. Installed or uninstalled jet engines can be run under actual load conditions. Testing ...

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...

test stands, spaceflight components, control systems, exploration surface equipment and wireline tools. Atec operates to ISO 9001, AS 9100D and ISO 14001 standards. Since its founding, Atec has made many notable acquisitions, including Lymco Electronics in 1976 (oil patch systems), Kestran in 1989 (energy service manufacturing), Celtech in 2013 (aeroengine test stands) with Space Corp. (aero support gear), Hager Machine & Tool in 2016 (energy & general machining), and Vital Link in 2017 (aerospace & industrial enclosures and fabrication). Locations in Oklahoma City, Singapore, Dubai and Istanbul also service international customers.

Notable spaceflight programs

*RL10 cryogenic flow control valves Atec has manufactured, assembled, and tested cryogenic flow control valves for the RL10 liquid-fueled rocket engine since 1995. The RL10 is currently used on the Centaur upper stage on both the

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, a ...

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture be ...

and

Delta IV Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta (rocket family), Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the National Security Space Launch, ...

launch vehicles, and is planned for use on the

Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle that is under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2014 with an initial flight expected in early 2023. It is principally designed to meet launch demands for the ...

launch vehicle. Northrop Grumman has recently indicated plans to utilize the RL10 on their

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The wo ...

rocket. As of December 2017, Atec-manufactured valves have flown on 140 consecutive successful flights. Notable RL10 missions which launched with Atec-manufactured valves include NASA’s

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

probe to

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

, the

LCROSS The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the Moon. Launched immedi ...

Lunar Impactor, and the Orion Exploration Flight Test 1. *International Space Station and Crew Capsule components In 2013, Atec began work on 27 lithium-ion battery adapter plates to be used on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. The electrical system of the International Space Station previously used 48 nickel–hydrogen (Ni–H2) batteries, which are being replaced with 24 lithium-ion batteries, built by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Six adapter plates were launched on HTV-6 in December, 2016. These adapter plates were installed by Peggy Whitson, Shane Kimbrough, and Thomas Pesquet over the course of two spacewalks in 2017 as part of Expedition 50. Atec, from a 2015 contract, began designing and manufacturing an electrical polarity and flow control unit for the next generation Crew Capsule, which will carry astronauts to the ISS and other manned-flight destinations. *Development and legacy liquid propulsion components Atec is a participant on several new development and heritage

rocket engine A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordanc ...

programs including the AR1 and RS-25 engines.

Notable engine test and support programs

*Jet and turboprop engine test stand repair contract In 2013, the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex awarded Atec a 5-year repair and support contract for A/M37T-20 & A/M37T-21 type test stands worldwide. Such test cells are in broad use for intermediate level test of F100, F101, F110, F119, F124, F125, F135, F404,

F414 The General Electric F414 is an American afterburning turbofan engine in the 22,000- pound (98 kN) thrust class produced by GE Aviation. The F414 originated from GE's widely used F404 turbofan, enlarged and improved for use in the Boeing F/A-1 ...

J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under lice ...

J85 J85 may refer to: *General Electric J85, a small single-shaft turbojet engine *HMS Seagull (J85), a Halcyon class minesweeper of Royal Navy *J85, the Johnson solid notation for a snub square antiprism In geometry, the snub square antiprism is o ...

, TF30,

TF33 The Pratt & Whitney JT3D is an early turbofan aircraft engine derived from the Pratt & Whitney JT3C. It was first run in 1958 and was first flown in 1959 under a B-45 Tornado test aircraft. Over 8,000 JT3Ds were produced between 1959 and 1985 ...

TF34 The General Electric TF34 is an American military turbofan engine used on the A-10 Thunderbolt II and S-3 Viking. Design and development Developed by GE Aircraft Engines during the late 1960s, the original engine comprises a single stage fan, ...

TFE731 The Garrett TFE731 (now Honeywell TFE731) is a family of geared turbofan engines commonly used on business jet aircraft. Garrett AiResearch originally designed and built the engine, which due to mergers was later produced by AlliedSignal and no ...

T38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: * T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics * T.38, a standard for fax over IP * T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank * Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...

, T53, T56, 501D,

AE2100 The Rolls-Royce AE 2100 is a turboprop developed by Allison Engine Company, now part of Rolls-Royce North America. The engine was originally known as the GMA 2100, when Allison was a division of former corporate parent General Motors. Developm ...

PT6 The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously up ...

, CT7,

TPE331 The Honeywell TPE331 (military designation: T76) is a turboprop engine. It was originally designed in the 1950s by Garrett AiResearch, and produced since 1999 by Honeywell Aerospace. The engine's power output ranges from . Design and developm ...

, PW100s, W-M601, MK532/6, AI-24T and other military aircraft turbine engines. Renewed in 2018 for 5 more years, this

IDIQ In U.S. Federal government contracting, IDIQ is an abbreviation of the term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. The lega ...

contract includes 24/7 hotline support, procurement, shipment, and on-site repairs in support of the United States Air Force. *Small turbine engine test cells Atec has designed and manufactured many modular turbine test cells for

APU APU or Apu may refer to: Film and television * ''The Apu Trilogy'', a series of three Bengali films, directed by Satyajit Ray, with the fictional character Apu Roy, comprising: ** ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') (1955), the first ...

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...

, and

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

engines. Notably, Atec designed and fielded 2 modular, regenerative turboshaft test cells for Rolls-Royce. These test cells were developed for the M250 engine and were tailored to Rolls-Royce’s

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

production facility. Typical turboshaft test cells often utilize a

water brake A water brake is a type of fluid coupling used to absorb mechanical energy and usually consists of a turbine or propeller mounted in an enclosure filled with water. As the turbine or propeller turns, mechanical energy is transferred to the wat ...

or other type of dynamometer to place a load on the engine, absorbing (and wasting) the produced energy. The Atec test cells use 500 hp

electric generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas ...

s to convert the rotational energy of the turboshaft into electrical energy. This allows Rolls-Royce to power the engine facility and sell excess generated power back to the

Electric utility An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...

. Other electric regenerative system installations include those for Bell and Bristow. Atec, Celtech and Vital Link Europe are also very active in worldwide helicopter and APU test cells. *Large turbine engine test cells Atec has designed and constructed multiple large turbine engine test cells. One notable example was contracted by Kalitta Air. This 10-meter

Tilt up Tilt-up, tilt-slab or tilt-wall is a type of building and a construction technique using concrete. Though it is a cost-effective technique with a shorter completion time, poor performance in earthquakes has mandated significant seismic retrofit r ...

concrete engine test cell is rated at 100,000 pounds of thrust and is sized for testing

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...

JT9D, 1000G, 2000, 4000, V2500, and GP7000 series;

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

CF-6, CF-34, CFM-56, smaller GE-90, GEnx, LEAP, and CFM-56; Rolls-Royce RB211 and smaller

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

engines. This test cell is 240 feet long by 33 feet wide. The inlet height is 45 feet, and the exhaust is expelled at a height of 56 feet. Recent large turbofan projects include a data acquisition system in Zurich and an eight-meter test cell in Miami. *Noise suppressors / hush houses In 2011, Atec was awarded a contract for the relocation of multiple T-9 noise suppressor test cells from

Aviano Air Base Aviano Air Base ( it, Base aerea di Aviano) is a base in northeastern Italy, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in the Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps or Southern Carnic Alps, about from Pordenone. Th ...

and Cannon Air Force Base to

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origina ...

. This effort included design of engine test equipment to accommodate the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine (used in the Joint Strike Fighter

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

) in these upgraded T-9 test cells. *Turbofan Phoenix test cell In 2016, Duncan Aviation selected Atec to design, manufacture and field a Phoenix Series Modular Turbofan Engine Test Cell rated for 20,000 lb. thrust class engines. This environmentally friendly test cell will be used primarily for MRO testing in response to Duncan Aviation's designation as a

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

Heavy Maintenance Facility. Duncan Aviation and Atec jointly announced this program at the

National Business Aviation Association The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is a non-profit, 501(c)(6) organization based in Washington, DC, United States. NBAA’s mission, according to the non-profit data and transparency organization GuideStar, is: “to foster an en ...

Conference, 2016. The cell was completed in August 2018.

Subsidiaries

*Celtech Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atec, based in

Carlsbad, New Mexico Carlsbad ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city population was 32,238. Carlsbad is centered at the intersection of U.S. R ...

. Atec acquired Celtech from ASE Holdings September 1, 2013. Celtech was founded in 1976 and incorporated in 1991. Celtech is a supplier of A/M37T-20C, A/M37T-21D, FEDS (T-24/T-33) and other jet engine and turboprop test stands for the United States Air Force and Foreign Military Allies. Celtech acquired the assets of Space Corp. (founded in the 1930s in Garland, Texas) & Page Avjet and as a result, Atec now owns these assets and data. *Hager Machine & Tool, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atec based in north

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Atec acquired Hager Machine & Tool on August 12, 2016. Hager was founded by Bill Hager in 1983 and is a renowned machine shop specializing in precision components for

Petroleum Industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

, Hydraulic,

Air Tool A pneumatic tool, air tool, air-powered tool or pneumatic-powered tool is a type of power tool, driven by compressed air supplied by an air compressor. Pneumatic tools can also be driven by compressed carbon dioxide () stored in small cylinders a ...

, and Heavy industry customers. Hager's machines and infrastructure have been modernized since 2016. *Vital Link, Inc., acquired in 2017, is a subsidiary based in Sealy, Texas. Vital Link is active the in manufacture, construction and sustainment of turbine engine test enclosures. The campus is 45 miles west of Houston, and provides over 100,000 square feet of buildings on 30 acres. This facility produces very large scale structures, buildings and weldments. Vital Link serves as the United States Air Force worldwide long-term IDIQ task contractor for hush houses. Founded in 1990 by Jim Sitko, Vital Link has a unit (Vital Link Europe) with offices in London, Dubai and Istanbul, which handles European and Asian projects and services.

Locations

Atec, Inc. * Stafford / SW Houston, Fort Bend County,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Midwest City Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The city was developed in r ...

Oklahoma County Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Hennepin County,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Celtech Corp. *

Carlsbad Carlsbad may refer to: *Carlsbad, California, United States *Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States *Carlsbad, Texas, United States *Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa ...

, Eddy County,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Hager Machine & Tool, Inc. *

, Harris County,

Vital Link, Inc. * Sealy, Austin County,

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Aerospace companies of the United States Defense companies of the United States