Ursa Major Achieves 10 Successful Hadley Engine Flights, Demonstrating Reusable Hypersonic Capability
BERTHOUD, Colorado, (April 16, 2026) Ursa Major’s Hadley liquid rocket engine has completed 10 consecutive successful flights, including multiple missions at sustained hypersonic speeds with Stratolaunch. The milestone underscores Ursa Major’s ability to deliver flight-proven, high-performing, reusable propulsion and defense systems at the speed and scale required for today’s national security environment.
Several of the 10 flights were conducted using previously flown Hadley engines, demonstrating reusability, durability, rapid turnaround, and a path to significantly lower cost per flight.
“These flights aren’t demonstrations; they’re operational test bed missions. Ten successful flights is proof that hypersonic capability is here,” said Chris Spagnoletti, CEO of Ursa Major. “Across Ursa Major, we design and build to fly, refly, and scale. That’s how we increase flight cadence, drive down cost, and deliver real systems to the field faster, giving the warfighter capability they can count on, when it matters.”
The Hadley Engine is a flight-proven liquid oxygen (LOX)-based propulsion system designed for hypersonic applications and space launch. Built using advanced additive manufacturing, the engine enables rapid iteration, flexible design architectures, and scalable production. This manufacturing approach allows Ursa Major to move from design to test to flight to production quickly and to continuously improve performance.
As demand for hypersonic capability grows, Ursa Major remains focused on increasing flight cadence, scaling production, and delivering reliable, American-made systems that strengthen the defense industrial base and meet evolving mission needs. Ursa Major is only the third company in the United States to prove and refly a reusable, hypersonic liquid rocket engine.
About Ursa Major
Ursa Major is an aerospace and defense company delivering flight-proven capabilities for hypersonics, solid rocket motors, space mobility and launch. Headquartered in Berthoud, Colorado, with additive manufacturing operations in Youngstown, Ohio, Ursa Major leverages advanced production techniques and flexible architectures to build systems for all domains: land, air, sea, and space. The company is revitalizing the defense industrial base for the U.S. and its allies, flying faster to accelerate delivery of critical capabilities where speed and adaptability matter most. For more information, visit www.ursamajor.com.
