EaglePicher Technologies

EaglePicher has supplied batteries for NASA programs since the Apollo era, including the lunar module batteries, the Space Shuttle, and the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The firm currently produces silver-zinc and lithium-ion battery systems for the Artemis program's deep-space exploration goals. Its cells are designed to withstand extreme thermal cycling and radiation exposure that commercial batteries cannot survive.

EaglePicher is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tuthill Corporation, a privately held industrial manufacturing group. Tuthill acquired EaglePicher in a bankruptcy auction in 2010, restructuring the company from its legacy lead-mining and automotive roots into a focused aerospace and defense battery specialist. Tuthill's ownership model is private and long-term, with no public equity market exposure.

EaglePicher supplies lithium-ion batteries for the Saab Gripen E multirole fighter jet, and its energetics division produces pyrotechnic actuators and ordnance components for US Department of Defense missile systems. The company holds a Supplier Excellence Award from Northrop Grumman, confirming active integration across multiple defense platforms. Specific platform names beyond the Gripen are generally restricted under ITAR and classification protocols.

The firm operates six manufacturing and processing facilities across four states: Joplin, Missouri (headquarters and an Energetics Center); Seneca, Missouri; two facilities in Pittsburg, Kansas; East Greenwich, Rhode Island; and Southbridge, Massachusetts. The Midwest sites focus on battery assembly and energetic materials, while the New England facilities handle specialized aerospace component production.

No. EaglePicher Technologies is a privately held subsidiary of Tuthill Corporation and does not file public financial disclosures. The firm was publicly traded for much of the 20th century as Eagle-Picher Industries before entering bankruptcy in 2005, after which its aerospace and defense battery division was separated and sold to Tuthill in 2010.

Flight heritage spanning over six decades is the primary differentiator. EaglePicher batteries have operated on deep-space missions where failure is catastrophic and unrecoverable — a qualification record that no venture-backed startup can replicate. Its facilities hold the security clearances and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliance infrastructure required for direct work on classified defense programs, which creates a regulatory moat around its core business.

The firm maintains active supplier relationships with NASA, Saab, and Northrop Grumman as publicly disclosed partners. It also participates in the Missouri Association of Manufacturers, where it won Manufacturer of the Year in 2019, and the Joplin Chamber of Commerce. Partnerships beyond these are generally governed by defense-contractor confidentiality and are not publicly listed.