Ursa Major, a Colorado-based rocket propulsion startup, is creating a research and development center for additive manufacturing and new material development near Youngstown, Ohio, with the help of a $4 million grant from JobsOhio.
The Berthoud, Colorado-based manufacturer plans to invest $14.5 million — including the grant from the state's private, nonprofit economic development organization — over the coming years to expand its 3D printing facilities in the Youngstown area, according to Team NEO, JobsOhio's Northeast Ohio affiliate.
"We're a propulsion house," Nick Doucette, Ursa Major's chief operations officer, told the Cleveland Business Journal. "We make solid and liquid rocket engines — so solid motors for national defense and missile defense, [and] liquid rocket engines for hypersonic space launch, etc."
The startup opened its 3D printing lab at the Youngstown Business Incubator in late 2021 to make hardware for rocket propulsion systems, using federal funding through the America Makes program, according to its website.
Now Ursa Major is expanding into 10,000 square feet of newly leased space at 8469 Southern Blvd. in Boardman. The company has no plans to move out of its lab at the Youngstown Business Incubator, said Jason Kello, Ursa Major's marketing and strategic communications director, in an email.
The expansion includes investments in post-process machining equipment and hiring up to 15 people, both over time, to finish the company's 3D-printed parts, Doucette said. This includes developing metallic alloys for solid rocket motors, and copper and nickel alloys for liquid rocket engines.
The new R&D center will host multiple laser powder bed fusion 3D printers, which enable rapid prototyping and material development. D-printing enables Ursa Major to reduce the time it takes to make of some of its most complex parts from up to nine months to seven days, Doucette said.
The expansion also is expected to accelerate the company's new material development and qualification processes for aerospace applications of additive manufacturing.
Ursa Major is expanding its R&D efforts to meet a rapidly growing portfolio of U.S. Department of Defense development contracts, the company said.
"The new R&D center [near] Youngstown takes advantage of Ohio's manufacturing heritage and uniquely skilled workforce to advance manufacturing in service to our national security," said Joe Laurienti, Ursa Major's CEO, in a statement.
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