America returns to space, and metal fabrication plays its part

In 2008 I spoke with Chris Thompson, then vice president of structures for a somewhat obscure company that had recently moved into the old Vought Aircraft complex. On the vast shop floor, where barrel-section fabrication for the Boeing 747 occurred decades before, workers bump-formed and rolled tank sections. A friction stir welding system with a retractable pin joined certain sections of aluminum and aluminum-lithium alloys, similar to those used on the Space Shuttle.

This was SpaceX, of course. Thomspon has since moved on to other firms in the burgeoning private space exploration sector. But in 2008 he was reveling in SpaceX’s efficient decision-making culture. The company had developed a new way to design and manufacture a rocket. In essence, SpaceX applied speedy process improvement to what was then a slow-to-change industry.