Overview
- The Affordable Rapid Missile Demonstrator completed a supersonic flight powered by Ursa Major’s Draper liquid rocket engine, validating operation in a missile platform.
- AFRL described the event as a key step that increased the Draper engine’s technology readiness level.
- Ursa Major said the program progressed from contract award to an all‑up round and flight‑ready propulsion system in eight months.
- The Draper engine is a storable, throttleable and restartable liquid system derived from the company’s Hadley architecture to enable flexible flight profiles and affordable production.
- AFRL positioned ARMD as a public–private demonstration of faster, lower‑cost missile development, with additional flight testing contracted to further characterize the engine.