Ursa Major’s Arroway engine is capable of producing up to 200,000-pound thrust. Credit: Brian McGowan on Unsplash.

US-based rocket propulsion company Ursa Major has reportedly raised $100m in funding, TechCrunch reported, citing documents and sources.

The Series D funding round, which was joined by BlackRock and Space Capital, closed in October 2022.

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Ursa Major’s current product lineup has three engines, called Hadley, Ripley, and Arroway, that can produce 5,000, 50,000 and 200,000-pound thrust, respectively.

With its propulsion-only strategy, Ursa Major challenges the vertically integrated launch industry by offering vehicle-independent engines for a range of launch and hypersonic applications.

The $100m funding comes after Ursa Major’s Series C funding in December 2021 which was led by funds managed by BlackRock.

At the time Ursa Major CEO and Founder Joe Laurienti said: “We believe that propulsion is a speciality, and propulsion’s horizontal is larger than any vertical it feeds into. A recent trend of consolidation and space companies seeking new verticals demonstrates the need for a horizontal market view.

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“To advance this industry and make space travel a more everyday endeavour, we need the technical advancements provided only by specialisation.”

Its other backers include XN, Explorer 1, Alsop Louie Partners, Alpha Edison, Dolby Family Ventures, and Harpoon Ventures.

The business has so far raised about $234m in total, and its pre-money valuation was $400m, the report said.

A representative for Ursa Major declined to comment “on rumours or speculation.”

The US Air Force, Generation Orbit, Phantom Space, Stratolaunch, and the Defence Manufacturing Institutes are among Ursa Major’s clients.