# Wasatch Ionics **Type:** venture **Status:** Draft **Confidence:** Low **Focus:** lithium-oxygen batteries, reserve batteries, chemical oxygen generation, Army obstacle systems, energy density **Stage:** Early-stage company; SBIR Phase II (as of 2025) **Location:** Utah (exact city unknown) **Updated:** 2026-06-19 **Domain:** aerospace-defense, energy **Region:** statewide (exact site unknown — see Open Questions) **Needs-reviewed:** 2026-06-19 **Pull:** *Army-validated Li-O₂ reserve batteries with on-board oxygen generation — a frontier chemistry bet on long sleep, high burst power.* ## Summary Wasatch Ionics is an early-stage Utah company developing lithium-oxygen (Li-O₂) reserve batteries with integrated chemical oxygen generation for U.S. Army applications. The target use case is Close Terrain-Shaping Obstacles (CTSO): a power source that can sleep for weeks, then deliver a high-current pulse on demand to activate an obstacle system. The company is SBIR-funded (Army Phase I and Phase II) and has a BYU collaboration, but public details are sparse — no discoverable website, team roster, or investor list. For the wiki, Wasatch Ionics is a real frontier-chemistry bet with Army validation, but it is far too early to assess production readiness, commercial path, or scale. Li-O₂ is a well-known hard problem; many well-funded labs have not cracked it at scale. ## Impact The impact case is specific but potentially broad. Current Li-thionyl chloride reserve batteries are the Army standard for obstacle systems; Li-O₂ chemistry promises roughly 10× energy density improvement at equivalent weight. If the chemistry matures, the same long-standby, burst-power profile could matter for a wide class of defense electronics beyond obstacle activation. The honest read is conditional. Army SBIR Phase II means the technology is real enough to fund, not production-ready. The Army application is narrow; a commercial path is unclear. Wasatch Ionics' engineering bet — integrating chemical oxygen generation on-board to remove the open-cathode requirement — adds complexity but addresses a genuine Li-O₂ constraint. ## What They Are Building Wasatch Ionics is building Li-O₂ reserve batteries with integrated chemical oxygen generation for military obstacle and related defense-electronics applications. The design targets a 30-day sleep mode followed by high-power pulses on demand — a profile that current reserve-battery chemistry handles but at lower energy density. The hard technical problems include oxygen management, dendrite formation during discharge, and electrolyte degradation under repeated charge-discharge cycles — all unsolved at scale across the field. On-board oxygen generation is the company's distinguishing engineering approach. ## What They Need Now Likely needs include electrochemistry and battery-materials researchers, systems engineers who understand reserve-battery architectures, Army program and SBIR contracting advisors, and manufacturing scale-up expertise — all at a stage where the team and funding picture are not publicly visible. Strong fit for people who want frontier battery chemistry with a defense application and are comfortable with very early, grant-funded R&D rather than a visible commercial product roadmap. ## Who Could Help Useful helpers include Army SBIR program advisors, electrochemistry researchers (including university collaborators), defense-energy storage specialists, and investors or operators experienced in taking hard battery chemistry from lab validation toward production — if and when the company seeks that path. ## Utah Context Wasatch Ionics appears to be a Utah-based SBIR company with BYU collaboration, placing it in the state's defense-and-energy research orbit alongside hardware and advanced-manufacturing work on the Wasatch Front. Public footprint is minimal compared with established Utah defense employers such as [L3Harris Salt Lake City](l3harris-salt-lake.md) or the [309th Software Engineering Group](309th-software-engineering-group.md) at Hill Air Force Base. ## Evidence - [SBIR.gov portfolio entry](https://www.sbir.gov/portfolio/1479451) — Army SBIR funding record for lithium-oxygen battery development. - [Utah GOEO press release on SBIR Phase II award](https://business.utah.gov/innovation-center/wasatch-ionics-wins-sbir-phase-ii-award-for-lithium-oxygen-battery-development/) — state announcement of Phase II award. ## Open Questions - Who owns and leads the company? Team, website, and investor details are not publicly discoverable. - How far has the chemistry progressed beyond Phase II milestones toward a fieldable reserve battery? - Li-O₂ remains a notoriously difficult chemistry at scale — what distinguishes Wasatch Ionics' on-board oxygen-generation approach from prior efforts? - Is there any credible commercial path beyond the Army obstacle-system niche, or is this strictly a defense-program story? - Exact Utah location and facility status are unknown.