Layoffs hit rocket engine maker Ursa Major

At least seven people have been laid off from rocket engine startup Ursa Major, with one person citing budget constraints as the reason for his layoff, according to LinkedIn posts.

Ursa Major did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's inquiry into the layoffs or the number of people affected. According to LinkedIn, 292 people are listed as currently working at Ursa.

This makes Ursa Major the latest company to be impacted by major market headwinds that have affected some of the biggest names in tech. Among those laid off are engineers working in propulsion, the daily bread of the business and quality analysis.

Ursa Major is a Burgdorf, Colorado-based startup that develops liquid engines for rockets and hypersonic applications. The company is developing a 5,000 pound thrust Hadley engine and a 50,000 pound thrust engine called Ripley. Just recently, the company announced an "eight-figure" contract to continue development of two new engines: a Draper engine for hypersonics and a 200,000 pound thrust Arroway engine.

In April, the company also announced that it would supply the upper stage engine for Astra Space's in-development Rocket 4. Ursa Major said it manufactures about 30 Hadley engines per year for several customers, including Stratolaunch and Phantom Space.

Ursa Major currently has five vacancies listed on their website.

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