Ursa Major extends America Makes partnership for the Additive Manufacturing of rocket engines
August 2, 2023
Ursa Major Technologies Inc, headquartered in Berthoud, Colorado, USA, has received additional funding from America Makes, an Ohio-based organisation that aims to accelerate US manufacturing competitiveness through the adoption of Additive Manufacturing.
Ursa Major and America Makes initiated their partnership in 2021 by establishing the Ursa Major Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Youngstown, Ohio. The lab created an Additive Manufacturing capability for GrCop-42, a copper-chrome-niobium alloy developed by NASA, with Ursa Major’s first large-scale Additive Manufacturing machine and produced prototype thrust chambers for the vacuum variant of the Hadley liquid rocket engine.
Ursa Major and America Makes have now entered into a new agreement that will extend their partnership through mid-2024. During this time, they will transition from building prototypes to manufacturing production and engine qualification hardware.
“Our Advanced Manufacturing Lab is critical to Ursa Major’s Additive Manufacturing capabilities, which accelerate engine production timelines,” said Brad Appel, Chief Technology Officer at Ursa Major. “With our resources in Youngstown, we can reduce the production and delivery cycle for combustion chambers from six months to one month.”
John Wilczynski, Executive Director of America Makes, added, “Ursa Major has been a great addition to our Youngstown ecosystem. We are excited to continue our collaboration on improving producibility and lead time reduction of defence industrial base relevant parts.”
GRCop-42 is utilised in high-heat applications such as liquid rocket engine combustion devices, due to its high conductivity and strength. Additive Manufacturing enables Ursa Major to accelerate engine production and incorporate real-time testing improvements, resulting in reduced costs. Furthermore, Ursa Major’s rocket engines are more than 80% additively manufactured by mass.
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