2025 Summer Internship - Propulsion Development

As Ursa Major expands into the realm of solid propulsion, we’re assembling the most innovative and nimble team in order to unseat the reigning players.  We’re applying the latest technologies to an outdated business model that improves cost, lead time, and flexibility without impacting reliability.  We must continue to build in-house capabilities in energetics, ballistics, and composites with an emphasis on novel designs focused on manufacturability and high-rate scalability.   

Propulsion development engineering interns are primarily responsible for supporting all aspects of the design, fabrication and test of development hardware for Ursa Major’s solid motor program as well as process development for new and novel approaches to manufacturing.  Success on this team requires an understanding of solid rocket propulsion fundamentals, mechanical and fluid systems, strong critical thinking skills, attention to detail, organization, and effective communication across discipline groups. 

Responsibilities 

• Clean sheet design of novel solid rocket motor elements with limited guidance from subject matter experts, including relevant analysis. 
• Lead cross-functional communications to ensure designs satisfy the needs of each stakeholder. 
• Maintain proper documentation of all designs including design reviews, drawings, test plans, requirements verification, etc. 
• Evaluate novel manufacturing approaches and support experimentation to validate conceptual approaches.  
• Coordinate with procurement team to identify potential supply chain risks and mitigate appropriately. 
• Support the fabrication and assembly of prototype hardware. 
• Provide dispositions for discrepant hardware including supporting analysis if required. 
• Develop test plans including required instrumentation and coordinate with test team to execute. 
• Review test data to ensure the product is operating as expected and support design changes as needed. 
• Own failure investigations as needed. 
• Develop and maintain aggressive but achievable product schedules that proactively identify and mitigate high-risk design decisions. 
• Generate CAD models and drawings that are consistent with internal best practices and ASME Y14.5-2009 using Siemens NX software 

Required Qualifications 

• Pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or other applicable discipline 
• Relevant solid rocket propulsion experience 

• Knowledge of solid rocket motor fundamentals 
• Experience with CAD modeling (Siemens NX preferred) 
• Experience with FEA/CFD software packages (ANSYS preferred) 
• Hands-on hardware experience with solid motors, including design and safety reviews 

Desired Experience 

• 1-2 years of relevant solid rocket propulsion experience 
• Experience handling and testing energetic materials 
• Experience with energetic material properties testing 
• Experience with ablative material composition, design, and testing 
• Programming competency in Python and/or MATLAB and FORTRAN 
• Experience with chemical kinetics solvers (CEA, CLWire, ProPEP) 

Colorado law requires us to tell you the base compensation range of this role, which is $29.00/hour, determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we are evaluating individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy. Click here for more information about our awesome benefits.