US firm tests upgraded Hadley H13 rocket engine for hypersonic flight

Ursa Major, a US aerospace and defense company, has successfully conducted the first hot-fire tests of its upgraded Hadley H13 liquid rocket engine, designed for hypersonic flight and small launch vehicles. The H13 is an enhanced version of the flight-proven Hadley H11 engine, delivering approximately 5,000 lbs of thrust at sea level and about 6,500 lbs in vacuum. Running on liquid oxygen and kerosene with an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, the engine features significant design improvements, updated materials, and advanced manufacturing processes—including 80% additive manufacturing—that increase performance, reusability, and reduce production lead times and costs. The H13 can be reused more than twice as many times as previous variants, making it Ursa Major’s highest performing and lowest cost-per-flight engine to date. The Hadley H13 is designed as an off-the-shelf propulsion solution, enabling integration into multiple platforms without custom development, thus supporting diverse mission profiles with greater reliability and