Ursa Major has quietly closed $100 million in new funding, according to documents seen by TechCrunch and multiple sources.
Series D funders include BlackRock and Space Capital. Funding was reportedly closed last October.
The new capital came less than a year after the company closed its $85 million Series C group, and the company has now raised about $234 million. The company sought financing at a $400 million pre-money valuation.
A spokesperson for Ursa Major declined to comment on “rumors or speculation”.
Ursa, led by CEO Joe Laurienti, is building a 5,000-pound liquid oxygen-kerosene engine called the Hadley and a 10-fold larger Ripley engine with 50,000 pounds of thrust. The company eschews the vertical integration model that has historically dominated the airline industry. Instead, it just focuses on the engine, which is one of the most difficult parts of a rocket to develop.
“We really like the idea that we’re a technology development company, and companies that launch rockets today shouldn’t be flying the same engine that they designed for their rockets 10 years ago,” Llorente told TechCrunch in an interview last year. “This is the pattern we see in vertical integration.”
Ursa’s general customer pool includes small launch companies Astra, Phantom Space, and Stratolaunch. The company also secured an engine delivery contract with the US Air Force.