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Acadian Contractors do corrosion control for Blue Origin, SpaceX
Acadian Contractors Inc. doing corrosion control work for Blue Origin and SpaceX on the Cape.
Malcolm Denemark, Florida Today
Nathan Trout grew up on Merritt Island watching space shuttles launch from his backyard in the 1980s and ’90s.
Now, the 1995 Merritt Island High grad gets up close and personal with modern-day rockets as business development manager for Acadian Contractors, a Louisiana-based company that came to the Space Coast in 2022.
“Growing up, you take for granted the fact that you see rockets go up all the time,” said Trout, who also is the varsity girls soccer coach at his alma mater Merritt Island High. “But now I take even more pride in it. You’re watching it a little bit more and you work with people who have dreamed about seeing it and being a part of it. It’s a different feeling. There’s a little more pride that goes into it, for sure.”
For more than 50 years Acadian Contractors has specialized in fabrication and corrosion control on steel and metal structures. Two of their primary contracts locally represent two of the larger aerospace companies — Blue Origin and SpaceX — where they take care of asset protection, preventive maintenance and repair when needed around structures.
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With Brevard’s space industry being so close to the ocean, an expert in handling products affected by salt air has proven critical.
Acadian handles things like ground support equipment — hardware on the launchpad like tanks and pipelines that will fuel equipment for the rockets prior to takeoff.
Since October 2022, Acadian has handled SpaceX’s marine operations, which consists of two boats — the ones that retrieve the boosters and the Crew Dragon capsule after it splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.
“As soon as the boats get here we are ready and we will go into the boat, inside the boat, and we start working on all the structures,” said Nuno Mana, East Coast regional manager for Acadian. “So we do mostly structural support and we start prepping the surface and then we start applying the different type of coatings.”
They’ll also do any repairs or replacements needed.
“It’s funny because, you know, we work where they leave and we also work when they land,” Mana said. “It closes the cycle. It’s a cool way to see it.”
How Acadian came to Brevard
Acadian has specialized in the fabrication of oil and gas production platforms throughout the United States, Gulf of Mexico and internationally for more than 50 years.
In early 2019, Acadian was contacted to subcontract work with a large global contractor, whom also has offices in Titusville.
“The contractor was looking for a partner that could fabricate a large structure that would be used and maintained inside the integrated facility,” Mana said.
Acadian built the structure at their Abbeville, Louisiana, facility. Once completed, it was shipped to the customer via the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic arriving at Port Canaveral.
“Because it was such a successful project, the customer invited us to keep this relationship and now we have a long-term contract with them,” Mana said.
Non-disclosure clauses and the top secret nature of what they do are the reasons the original customer is not named.
Prior to coming to Brevard, Acadian had never worked with an aerospace company.
Trout said the job is ideal for him: he’s a lifelong Brevardian, aside from time he was away playing college football at Syracuse and embarking on a CFL career.
“There’s a lot of pride in trying to do it the right way,” Trout said. “I just want to continue to grow the business in the place where I grew up watching launches.”
Where Acadian is located
Acadian’s East Coast headquarters is located in northern Cocoa, just past Camp Road off U.S. 1. They are situated on 1.3 acres in an 11,000-square foot building off Williams Point Blvd.
They also have their original location in Louisiana, and one in Houston, Texas.
They currently employ 16 people in Brevard County but have plans to expand.
“Expanding the company nationally is part of our long-term strategy,” Mana said. “We see this as a long-term relationship, so this move to the East Coast was just the first example of many outlets.”
Mana, who came to the U.S. from Portugal 11 years ago, was in awe the first time he was Cape-side standing near a rocket.
“I always used to see space through the TV, like most of us,” he said. “Now, I drive there and I’m so close. So that’s really unbelievable.”
Contracts with Blue Origin, SpaceX
Acadian has a mutli-year contract with Blue Origin, and they are in their second year working with the company.
They’ve worked with SpaceX for just over six months.
Of course, working with Blue Origin and SpaceX means they are working with two of the richest people on the planet in Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
However, Mana and Trout are still waiting to meet them.
“We haven’t had the opportunity for a selfie yet,” Mana said.
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