Ursa Major, America’s only independent pure-play rocket propulsion company announced the delivery of “Hadley” engines to two different customers for very different applications—hypersonics and space launch. Hadley is an American-made oxygen-rich staged combustion engine, the type of system preferred by the world’s most advanced space programs. The engine is now in full production, with 30 expected to be delivered this year.
This important company milestone comes amid concerns that the United States has fallen behind Russia and China’s hypersonics capabilities. Additionally, much of the rocket propulsion in the U.S. has previously come from Russia or Ukraine and Russia recently announced that it would no longer sell its engines to the U.S.
“Delivering Hadley engines to customers who will use them for very different purposes shows the Ursa Major business model in action—higher performing engines, more of them, delivered quickly at less than half the cost,” said Joe Laurienti, founder and CEO of Ursa Major. “By freeing launch companies from the expense and difficulty of building their own engines or buying sub-par technology from other countries, Ursa Major will accelerate the number and frequency of successful launches across sectors.”
Phantom Space, a space technology and transportation company, will use Hadley to power its two-stage expendable rocket, which transports satellites and other space cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. Stratolaunch, an aerospace vehicles and technology company, will use Hadley to power its reusable hypersonic testbed vehicle, which is designed to reach Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound.
By making flexible rocket engines that can be used for multiple purposes, Ursa Major helps customers get to launch three times faster at a low price and without the development cost of building engines in-house. By supporting other aerospace startups, Ursa Major is helping shape the modern space economy with entrepreneurial thinking and innovation.
“Hadley’s greatest strength is that she simply exists,” said Silas Meriam, senior test operations engineer, Ursa Major. “No one else is making engines with 5,000 pounds of thrust at this level of reliability—and they’re available now.”
Because Hadley is mostly 3D-printed, Ursa Major can make data-driven design improvements and manufacture them essentially in real-time.