About Ben Nicholson
Ben is the Chief Business Officer at Ursa Major, bringing over 22 years of government service to the defense tech startup. His career includes 10 years in the Coast Guard, legislative experience as a congressional staffer on appropriations, and corporate leadership at defense giants L3 and Honeywell.
At age 50, Nicholson made an unexpected leap from the established defense industrial base to a venture-backed startup, driven by a desire to give back and the realization that his experience and perspective could help bridge the gap between young engineering talent and the realities of defense procurement.
A self-described “constitutional geek” who signs half his emails simply “America,” Ben brings an unusual combination of technical credibility, government insight, and entrepreneurial drive to URSA Major’s mission.
About Ursa Major
Founded 11 years ago during the space launch “gold rush,” Ursa Major pivoted to focus squarely on defense propulsion, addressing what they see as the long pole in the tent for anything that moves fast in the battlespace.
The company is focused on three key mission areas:
Homeland Defense: Hypersonic propulsion systems
Munitions: Solid rocket motors
Space Mobility: Propulsion for orbital applications
The Business Model: URSA Major is a products and systems company, not a services shop. They’ve received $250 million of private capital (including a recent $100 million Series E), opened a 400-acre test facility in Northeast Colorado, and can go from clean sheet design to hot fire in 29 days.
The Core Innovation: Ursa Major combines additive (3D printing) and agile manufacturing to achieve rapid iteration while building toward scale. Their philosophy is to use printing to lock designs fast and avoid costly mistakes before committing capital to production tooling.
Key Takeaways
1. The Complexity Multiplier Is Real, But So Is the Opportunity
Ben’s framework here captures the challenge of defense tech: “Design is pretty easy. It’s 10 times harder to get the prototype. Then it’s 10 times harder to scale. And it’s 10 times harder to scale with a profitable business.”
That said, hard things and big things often require the same effort as small things. If you’re going to put in the work, you might as well tackle problems that matter.
2. 3D Printing is for Design Lock, Not Mass Production
The hype around additive manufacturing promised it would revolutionize everything. The reality is it’s really good at a subset of things. At Ursa Major, 3D printing serves a specific purpose: rapid iteration to lock designs.
But when you need thousands of solid rocket motors? “You’re not going to print thousands. That’s just not what 3D printing is about.” The value is in saving time on the front end and building confidence in designs before committing capital to production tooling.
3. Trust is Earned Through Tedious Repetition
“Everybody wants to win,” Ben told me. “But are they willing to do what it takes to win? And sometimes that’s the tedious, repetitive things to earn that trust.”
The sexy part of Ursa’s business is the kinetics. But the reason they’ve been successful is they’ve earned trust by doing the tedious things. That’s why the company hired the former head of safety from the Navy and Marine Corps. They focus on DCMA audits and prime partner reviews. You cannot skip over compliance just to focus on the sexy stuff.
4. The Government is Finally Asking Industry to Challenge the Status Quo
Ben told us about a recent Navy program where the government is explicitly telling vendors: “Do not do things the status quo way.” As the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office (DON RCO) hits the road on their tour this week, we are hearing more and more that legacy approaches to manufacturing are a significant driver of complexity that frustrates modernization.
“I can’t think of a time where government [has] really challenged industry this way,” Ben said. That’s the same paradigm shift that’s creating space to innovate on solid rocket motors, which have been made the same way for more than a generation.
5. Production Signals Matter More Than Cash Alone
This is a common refrain, but it’s worth repeating: there’s a common misconception that defense tech companies just need more capital.
But the ones who scale do so on the back of two forces working together: cash (to accelerate) and production-level contracts (to de-risk investment). When the government indicates they’ll buy at scale if the technology works, private capital follows. “I’m ready to pounce with a little bit of clarity,” Nicholson said. “I think we can answer the call.”
Ben’s Call for Startups
For startups looking to support the defense industrial base, Nicholson offered two focus areas:
Data Analytics and AI: “Either you’re going to be good at it, you’re going to be competing against it, you’ve got to be conversing in it.”
Advanced Manufacturing Expertise: Following the SpaceX playbook of bringing experts from automotive and other high-volume industries to solve scale challenges.
Check out the Website: https://ursamajor.com/
Follow Ursa Major: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ursamajortech/
Follow Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nicholson-666257205
Follow Noah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahsheinbaum/
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