WASHINGTON — Rocket engine maker Ursa Major landed a $32.9 million deal to supply 16 advanced propulsion systems to Stratolaunch for hypersonic flight tests.
Under the contract announced June 16, Colorado-based Ursa Major will deliver an upgraded variant of its Hadley engine for use in Stratolaunch’s reusable hypersonic vehicle called Talon-A. Stratolaunch has a contract with the Pentagon to provide testing vehicles and infrastructure for military systems.
“This contract directly supports U.S. hypersonic test infrastructure and the broader imperative to accelerate high-speed flight programs,” Ursa Major CEO Dan Jablonsky said in a statement.
The upgraded Hadley engine is called H13.
“This version increases engine reusability with additional starts, driving down cost per flight while supporting new test objectives and mission profiles,” said Chris Spagnoletti, president of liquid systems at Ursa Major. He added that the H13 uses advanced metals and is designed to fly more than twice as many missions as the current engine variant.
Hadley engines have powered multiple Talon-A missions. The engine produces 5,000 pounds of thrust and operates on liquid oxygen and kerosene using an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle — a design more commonly found in large orbital-class engines.
Pentagon hypersonic testing program
Stratolaunch, based in California, is one of several private aerospace firms tapped by the U.S. Department of Defense to accelerate hypersonic flight testing.
The Pentagon uses Stratolaunch’s Talon-A as a test platform. Mounted under the wing of the company’s massive carrier aircraft — the world’s largest plane by wingspan — Talon-A can be air-launched at altitude and reach speeds over Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
Testing systems at hypersonic speeds remains expensive and logistically complex, making reusable platforms like Talon-A increasingly valuable, defense officials have said.
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