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 Ad00:02:02 Guest Intro00:03:30 What were you working on at SpaceX and Blue Origin?00:04:53 USC Rocket Propulsion Lab00:06:13 Origin story into entrepreneurship00:09:41 Story of the name Ursa Major00:11:36 Space SEO + skincare products00:12:12 How have your numbers changed in a year in terms of production?00:14:03 Hadley, Ripley, and Arroway00:15:00 Your engines, how they fit together, and their capabilities00:19:25 First methane fuled rocket?00:20:40 Technology stacks/methods driving your production00:23:51 Reason for existence00:30:05 Vector and Vector-R annoucnement00:32:15 Your contribution to the partnership00:33:52 How did the partnership start and where do you see it going?00:35:34 Commercial partnership with Phantom00:37:16 Other partners00:38:37 Recruitment from the big 2 and other recruiting targets00:42:24 Raising funds vs revenue generation00:44:22 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/careersCulture — https://www.ursamajor.com/cultureArroway — https://payloadspace.com/ursa-major-unveils-arroway/April 2022 interview — https://payloadspace.com/ursa-major-scales/Twitter — https://twitter.com/ursamajortechLinkedIn — 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/payloadspacePathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_uY3GaNf67hP-i6TRWF2n06xMv1kdkZ6Pathfinder 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 limitReusability: Single engines capable of multi-mission use and extended duration applicationsThrust Vector Control: Precise gimbal maneuvering and controlActive throttle range: Allows for Max-Q throttling, g-limit throttling and mission-specific thrust profilesSingle-mission restarts: Allows for efficient orbit-changing burns, de-orbit burns, and Stage 1 recoveryCustom burn duration: Allows for flexibility in mission planning and total impulseHadley, 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.