The Go / No-Go Decision Gates
The program advances through explicit decision gates; failing a gate returns work to simulation or test rather than moving forward.
Gates, not momentum
A credible program does not advance on momentum alone. It passes explicit go/no-go gates: the design is frozen for a build only when prior results justify it, and a build proceeds to a fleet only when its results clear the physics and engineering questions. Each gate can send work backward.
The main gates
- Design freeze — simulation and prototypes justify committing to the test unit.
- Test-unit results — confinement, field, DEC, and materials measured against prediction.
- Commercial go — net-electric and dispatch results justify a FOAK build.
- Fleet go — FOAK and NOAK results justify scaling to a fleet.
The important property is symmetry: a gate that can only be passed is not a gate. If test-unit results fall short, the correct outcome is a return to simulation and redesign, and a moved date — not a waved-through commitment. This is how dates yield to physics rather than the reverse.
Where MetroVolt is on the ladder
Today MetroVolt is before the design-freeze gate — in simulation, with prototypes ahead. Every later gate is genuinely open, and each is described on its own milestone or gate page.