Ursa Major’s 3D-printed Hadley engine successfully tested

Ursa Major‘s Hadley engine, a purpose-built engine designed to meet the needs of U.S. aerospace and national security, flew for the first time to power Stratolaunch’s Talon-A1 (TA-1) testbed during a test over the Pacific Ocean. Ursa Major relies on 3D printing for production.

This engine was specifically designed to meet the commercial and safety needs of the US space sector and performed impressively during a test flight over the Pacific Ocean powered by Stratolaunch’s Talon-A1 (TA-1). Speeds close to Mach 5 were achieved, representing a major advance towards hypersonic flight.

“For the first time since SpaceX fundamentally transformed space launch with privately developed rockets, Ursa Major and Stratolaunch have come together to advance a critical national mission,” said Ursa Major founder and CEO Joe Laurienti. “Hypersonic flight has been a massive military and governmental challenge. Today, private companies were able to propel a leap forward.”

The Hadley engine, which was designed, built and tested by Ursa Major in less than a decade, represents a major advance for the company. It enables faster delivery of new mission solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense and improves performance metrics in terms of speed, range and payload.

Hadley is a 5,000-pound thrust rocket engine that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene in an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle and is designed for smaller vehicles. With this engine, customers can launch small payloads into orbit or onto hypersonic platforms.

A unique feature of Ursa Major is the use of 3D printing technologies to accelerate the engine manufacturing process, which significantly reduces production time. The Hadley engine is the first product in a series of propulsion systems, including liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors, designed, developed and manufactured by Ursa Major.