Production Controller

Ursa Major wins $137 million US deal for missile rocket motors. The US Navy has awarded Ursa Major $137 million to develop solid rocket motors for two missile programs as it works to expand domestic missile production capacity. The two contracts cover the Compact Air-to-Air Missile (CAAM) and the Naval Modular Missile (NMM) medium-range variant. The awards will support the design and qualification of tactical solid rocket motors. For CAAM, Ursa Major is developing a 7-inch (17-centimeter) motor designed to deliver the required performance within the missile's limited internal volume and at a low unit cost. The motor uses the company's Highly Loaded Grain technology, which allows more propellant to be packed into a given volume. The company will also develop a 10-inch (25.4-centimeter) motor for the NMM medium-range variant. The motor is intended for high-rate production and compatibility with existing Navy shipboard launch systems. "Production is the bottleneck in missile programs right now, and that's the part we've been building for," Jason Meredith, president of solid missile systems at Ursa Major, said. US expands solid rocket motor production. Ursa Major is part of a broader US defense effort to expand solid rocket motor production after years of limited manufacturing capacity became a constraint on missile output. Avio USA broke ground in September on a facility in Virginia that is expected to produce thousands of solid rocket motors annually. The company plans to begin production in 2029, with the plant supporting US tactical missile programs. The same month, Northrop Grumman opened it new Propulsion Innovation Center in Elkton, Maryland that is expected to employ about 250 engineers. Earlier, in June, L3Harris Technologies invested $25 million to expand its Huntsville, Alabama, manufacturing footprint for solid rocket motor production.

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Ursa Major to go public in $2.3BN SPAC deal with Inflection Point. Aerospace and defense manufacturer Ursa Major has announced to go public through a business combination with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: BCCQU), a special purpose acquisition company backed by Inflection Point Asset Management. Following the transaction, the combined company will be renamed Inflection Point Mach X Bleichroeder Corp. and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker IPXX. Closing is anticipated in the first quarter of 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Berthoud, Colorado, Ursa Major builds propulsion systems for hypersonics, solid rocket motors and space mobility. The company also operates an additive manufacturing (AM) facility in Youngstown, Ohio. The listing follows a broader rise in investor interest in defense manufacturers, driven by heightened geopolitical tension and demand for weapons systems that can be produced quickly. Deal Terms and Financing The transaction values Ursa Major at approximately $1.6 billion on a pre-money basis and $2.3 billion after closing. It is backed by at least $350 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) commitments, anchored by Inflection Point, with roughly $110 million funded at the signing of the business combination agreement. The PIPE includes both new institutional investors and existing Ursa Major backers, including XN. Depending on redemption levels, Ursa Major may retain up to $345 million in additional proceeds. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Moelis & Company LLC are serving as placement agents to Inflection Point, with Cantor also advising Bleichroeder and Moelis advising Ursa Major on capital markets. Latham & Watkins LLP is legal counsel to Ursa Major, White & Case LLP to Inflection Point, DLA Piper LLP (US) to Cantor and Moelis, and Reed Smith LLP to Bleichroeder. "Deterrence depends on what can be built reliably, safely and at scale," said Chris Spagnoletti, CEO of Ursa Major, adding that the transaction is intended to convert eleven years of work on propulsion, manufacturing, testing, qualification and flight into added production capacity. Bleichroeder intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, covering the proxy statement and prospectus for the deal. Closing still requires sign-off from both companies' shareholders, along with regulatory clearance, including approval of the common stock, Series A Preferred Stock and Series A Investor Warrants issued as part of the transaction, as required under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635. The volume of redemption requests filed by Bleichroeder's investors could also affect the combined company's public float and share liquidity once listed. Production Expansion Plans Proceeds are earmarked for scaling output across the company's core programs, including its solid rocket motors, HAVOC missile system, liquid hypersonic engines and space mobility hardware. Near-term capital will go toward expanding the company's Galeton, Colorado site from a solid rocket motor test facility into a larger manufacturing campus, along with continued growth in liquid engine production, AM capacity and development of complete missile systems, or "all-up-rounds." Ursa Major says it employs more than 360 people across six facilities, spanning nearly 500 acres of design, manufacturing and testing space. Track Record and Industry Backdrop Ursa Major says it has conducted more than 5,500 ground tests and 140,000 seconds of testing since its founding, with its engines used in more than a dozen hypersonic missions to date. Its Hadley engine has flown on the U.S. Department of War's hypersonic test bed more than ten times, and the company was prime contractor and vehicle integrator on the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Affordable Rapid Missile Demonstrator program, which has completed two flights using Ursa Major's Draper liquid rocket engine. In May 2025, a Ursa Major liquid rocket engine also powered a flight test of the reusable hypersonic vehicle Talon-A. Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin announced an investment to extend the range and payload capacity of its hypersonic missiles, and Leidos Holdings received a $2.7 billion contract in May to move its own hypersonic weapons from prototype into production. Scaling Propulsion Hardware Through Additive Manufacturing Ursa Major's plan to expand its solid rocket motor and liquid hypersonic engine lines reflects a broader industry pattern, treating AM as a lever for growing manufacturing capacity, not just a prototyping tool. Ursa Major's own H13 engine used AM to build complex propulsion components without dedicated tooling, allowing output to grow without retooling entire supply chains, a rationale echoed by L3Harris, which used large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) to cut production time for hypersonic propulsion components tenfold. Both companies point to a shared advantage: hardware that can scale without new capital tied up in tooling. For Ursa Major, that pattern is already built into how the company plans to scale, with AM woven into the production architecture the SPAC proceeds are meant to expand. 3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here. Explore the full Future of 3D Printing and Executive Survey series from 3D Printing Industry, featuring perspectives from CEOs, engineers, and industry leaders on the industrialization of additive manufacturing, 3D printing industry trends 2026, qualification, supply chains, and additive manufacturing industry analysis. Featured image shows technicians at Ursa Major's Youngstown facility operate an EOS M 400 system. Photo via Ursa Major.