Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned, engineering, R&D, IT and operational solutions company, provided a protective coating to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule for its first flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Alion applied a conductive thermal control coating to the Dragon Trunk, the cargo portion of the Dragon spacecraft. Since shipping aerospace hardware to a stationary coatings facility can often be difficult, costly and time-consuming, Alion engineers developed a portable coatings application system that can be easily transported. Using this new system, Alion's experts sprayed protective coatings onsite at SpaceX facilities.

"We are excited to support such an important test mission that could radically impact the way cargo is delivered to the International Space Station," said Chris Amos, Alion Senior vice president and manager of the Technology Solutions Group. "Alion chemists pioneered the development of unique materials to protect aerospace components, and now our portable application system is a cost- and time-saving alternative to shipping components to our coatings lab. It's a game-changing solution that can help make the entire launch preparation process more efficient."

Alion has been developing and applying aerospace coatings on government and commercial satellites and spacecraft since the early days of the U.S.-Russia space race the company said.