The Last Indy Prop Provider Still Standing, with Joe Laurienti

Joe Laurienti is the CEO and cofounder of Ursa Major, a company that builds and sells propulsion products for A) launch, B) hypersonics, and C) in-space transportation. 

Joe cut his teeth at SpaceX and Blue Origin before setting out on his own and starting Ursa Major in 2015. The Colorado company raised $85M in December 2021 and started ramping engine production last year. It has two bigger, badder beasts in the works: Ripley, Hadley’s bigger sister, is 10X more powerful. Arroway, which is further out, is a 200,000-pound thrust, liquid oxygen and methane staged combustion engine. 

On today’s show, Joe and Ryan talk about the startup’s primary products; its origin story; and how big of a market Ursa Major believes it’s going after.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Kepler Communications, a company bringing the internet to space. 

• Sneak peek •

Joe joins Pathfinder with a surprise, and a space scoop: Ursa Major has struck a deal to supply Vector Launch with “several” propulsion systems, he tells Pathfinder. Ursa’s Hadley engines will power the main stage of the Vector-R launch vehicle in future demonstration missions. Vector is a seven-year-old startup that's raised more than $180M to date but had to declare bankruptcy in 2020. The thought-to-be-dead rocket developer is in fact not dead, and last October, tweeted a photo of its Vector-R, with strong “rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated” vibes. 

• Chapters •

• 00:00:00 Intro and Ad
• 00:02:02 Guest Intro
• 00:03:30 What were you working on at SpaceX and Blue Origin?
• 00:04:53 USC Rocket Propulsion Lab
• 00:06:13 Origin story into entrepreneurship
• 00:09:41 Story of the name Ursa Major
• 00:11:36 Space SEO + skincare products
• 00:12:12 How have your numbers changed in a year in terms of production?
• 00:14:03 Hadley, Ripley, and Arroway
• 00:15:00 Your engines, how they fit together, and their capabilities
• 00:19:25 First methane fuled rocket?
• 00:20:40 Technology stacks/methods driving your production
• 00:23:51 Reason for existence
• 00:30:05 Vector and Vector-R annoucnement
• 00:32:15 Your contribution to the partnership
• 00:33:52 How did the partnership start and where do you see it going?
• 00:35:34 Commercial partnership with Phantom
• 00:37:16 Other partners
• 00:38:37 Recruitment from the big 2 and other recruiting targets
• 00:42:24 Raising funds vs revenue generation
• 00:44:22 Max Q: What reasons are there to be bullish on small launch?
• 00:45:49 How many launch companies can have viable business models?
• 00:47:25 how do you view the Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition and what does it mean for Ursa? Is $4.7B a ceiling for a company building engines? How do you see Ursa becoming more valuable?
• 00:49:18 Rapid fire q

• Show notes •

Landing page — https://www.ursamajor.com/
Jobs — https://www.ursamajor.com/careers
Culture — https://www.ursamajor.com/culture
Arroway — https://payloadspace.com/ursa-major-unveils-arroway/
April 2022 interview — https://payloadspace.com/ursa-major-scales/
Twitter — https://twitter.com/ursamajortech
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/ursamajortech/
Ryan's socials — https://twitter.com/Ryandoofy / https://www.linkedin.com/in/rfduffy/
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_uY3GaNf67hP-i6TRWF2n06xMv1kdkZ6
Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes

• More info •

This info is provided by Ursa Major. Find out more at ursamajor.com/engines. 

"Our engines are optimized to offer high performance, diverse capability, and unwavering reliability — all at a competitive price." The engines feature: 

• Staged Combustion: High-performing engine cycle in a compact design, innovating technology to its limit
• Reusability: Single engines capable of multi-mission use and extended duration applications
• Thrust Vector Control: Precise gimbal maneuvering and control
• Active throttle range: Allows for Max-Q throttling, g-limit throttling and mission-specific thrust profiles
• Single-mission restarts: Allows for efficient orbit-changing burns, de-orbit burns, and Stage 1 recovery
• Custom burn duration: Allows for flexibility in mission planning and total impulse

Hadley, Ursa Major's engine that's currently in production, has 5,000 lbf of thrust @ sea level, runs on lox and kerosene, and is designed for low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, in-space propulsion, and hypersonics systems. 

Ripley, which is in development, has 50,000 lbf of thrust @ sea level, also runs on lox and kerosene, and is designed for LEO and GEO. Arroway, which is earlier in the R&D phase, has 200,000 lbf of thrust; runs on lox and methane; and is designed for medium and heavy boost launch vehicles.