Ursa Major 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 USD investment represents a partnership between OSC and the U.S. Navy to mature Ursa Major’s Lynx solid rocket motor (SRM) additive manufacturing process under OSC’s Transition Acceleration Program. Ursa Major will match the DoD investment to a total 25 million USD 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 are proud to work with OSC on their mandate for expanding the defence industrial base by bringing new innovations into the DoD ecosystem,” said Dan Jablonsky, Ursa Major CEO. “Ursa Major is revolutionising manufacturing approaches used in propulsion development in the United States, building flexibility of production and scalability into manufacturing for our defence 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.
Earlier this year, Ursa Major announced it was to open a 14.5m USD additive manufacturing & materials research centre in Ohio. The company also appointed Jablonsky as founder Joe Laurienti's successor in the CEO role.
