The Merge

E49 – Ursa Major Solid Rocket Motors

Sonntag, 31. August 2025 · 31 min

MP3

Shownotes

In this episode, Mike sits down with Dan Jablonsky, CEO ofUrsa Major, to discuss solid rocket motors and how Ursa Major is doing it differently.
Once dominated by just two suppliers, America’s SRM propulsion base has been stretched thin—leaving gaps exposed by today’s conflicts.
Dan explains how Ursa Major is tackling that challenge withmodular production, 3D printing, Highly Loaded Grain propellants, and advanced manufacturing using what they’ve learned from their liquid motor product lines.
We also talk about the big picture: hypersonics, cruisemissiles, and upcoming programs with RTX (Raytheon), the U.S. Navy (SM-2, SM-3, SM-6), the Army, and Stratolaunch.
If you want to understand why missile production is one of the biggest defense challenges of our time—and how new entrants like Ursa Major are building solutions—this episode is for you.

Links
• Sign up for the newsletter⁠ (themerge.co)!
• Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ (patreon.com/the_merge)!
• Ursa Major website (ursamajor.com)
• Ursa Major LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/ursamajortech)
• Ursa Major Instagram (instagram.com/ursamajortech)
• Ursa Major X (x.com/ursamajortech)
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intro
Ursa Major
company name
getting into the SRM business
SRM industrial base
doing SRMs differently
SRM 101
Highly Loaded Grain
increasing missile range
rapid development
scale with safety
rapidly adapting SRMs to the threat
3D printing everything?
hypersonic motors
missiles in space
affordable mass
outro

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