Overview
- The U.S. Navy awarded Ursa Major a $10 million development contract to carry the MK 104 through critical design review and static‑fire testing as the motor moves toward formal qualification.
- Ursa Major said it will execute the work with its Lynx mixed‑model production system, which uses additive manufacturing to make motor cases, nozzles and igniters and can build multiple motor sizes without retooling.
- The MK 104 powers variants of the Standard Missile family, including SM‑2, SM‑3 and SM‑6, so its availability affects both ship self‑defense and longer‑range missile inventories.
- The contract is a development‑stage award that follows earlier Navy‑Ursa Major prototyping work and a reported $25 million joint investment, and it does not guarantee a later production contract.
- If Lynx scales as claimed, the work could relieve long‑standing supply bottlenecks in solid‑rocket motor production and speed missile delivery to the fleet, with the next milestones being CDR completion and successful static‑fire results.