Ursa Major, U.S. Navy make $25 million investment in new solid rocket motor prototype

Ursa Major, the United States' leading privately funded rocket propulsion company, will receive funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) as one of the inaugural recipients of investments from the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) to strengthen critical supply chain technologies needed for national security. The $12.5 million investment represents a partnership between OSC and the U.S. Navy to mature Ursa Major's Lynx solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing process under OSC's Transition Acceleration Program. Ursa Major will match the DOD investment to a total $25 million expansion of the company's SRM capabilities.

Ursa Major's investment will be used to complete an OSD(R&E) Advanced Manufacturing Pathfinder program for the design, manufacture, and test of a SRM prototype in direct support of Program Executive Officer (PEO) Integrated Weapon Systems (IWS). Ursa Major is currently developing a second source Mk104 Dual Thrust Rocket Motor (DTRM) for the Navy under a separate award.

OSC was established to increase investments in priority critical technology areas for national security. Ursa Major will focus the investment on advancing manufacturing capability in the areas of propellant manufacturing, additive manufacturing, and composite case winding in support of SRMs for national security missions.

"We're proud to work with OSC on their mandate for expanding the defense industrial base by bringing new innovations into the DOD ecosystem," says Dan Jablonsky, Ursa Major CEO. "Ursa Major is revolutionizing manufacturing approaches used in propulsion development in the United States, building flexibility of production and scalability into manufacturing for our defense customers."

This project is a partnership between Ursa Major and the Naval Air Weapons Center China Lake and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division.