NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Ursa Major, a Colorado-based rocket propulsion company, has secured $12.5 million in new funding from the U.S. military to advance the development and production of solid rocket motors, the company announced Sept. 17.
The funding, a joint investment from the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), will be matched by Ursa Major, bringing the total investment to $25 million.
The company said the new investment will support the design, manufacture, and testing of a solid rocket motor prototype for the U.S. Navy. Ursa Major is already working on solid rocket motors for the Navy under a separate award.
The Pentagon’s move comes as it seeks to diversify its supplier base amid concerns about overreliance on a shrinking pool of domestic suppliers for solid rocket motors. Ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have strained existing production capacity, particularly for tactical solid rocket motors.
“We are proud to work with OSC on their mandate for expanding the defense industrial base by bringing new innovations into the DoD ecosystem,” said Dan Jablonsky, chief executive of Ursa Major.
Jablonsky highlighted the company’s new manufacturing approach called Lynx, which leverages 3D printing technology to enhance the production of solid rocket motors, aiming for a faster, more cost-effective, and scalable process compared to traditional methods.
The OSC, established in 2022 and formally enacted by Congress in 2024, has authorities to issue loans and loan guarantees. It aims to leverage U.S. capital markets to increase private investment in technologies vital to the Department of Defense’s needs, including those that may not attract sufficient private funding through traditional procurement methods.
Ursa Major has also secured several contracts from the U.S. Air Force for propulsion technology.